The familiar, comforting voice came over the car radio, bringing back images not only from my son's childhood, almost 20 years ago, but my own, 40 years ago. I was 11 when I saw Big Bird for the first time. I was sitting with my sixth-grade classmates in the school library for lunch when our teacher wheeled in the school's TV, stating that there was a new show on that we could watch while eating.
Though we were all past the need for learning the ABCs and learning to count, we were not too old to appreciate the all-inclusive approach that Sesame Street brought to the airwaves.
My classmates and I were children of the Sixties. From our earliest memories we saw and heard images of division and strife from Vietnam news reports, protests and the Civil Rights movement. Early on, our teacher had us watch the half-hour news report every morning and explained the meaning of the black armband he and others wore when Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated.
In watching Sesame Street I learned that people of all backgrounds could come together and get along. Differences were negotiated, hurts soothed, amends made. It was a counterpoint to the scary and bewildering world in which we were growing up. We survived that difficult time and with Sesame Street's help, we can survive today's.
Happy Anniversary, Sesame Street.
-- Pamela Dunlap-Shohl