Some Oscars aren't so grouchy

Many of us grew up watching Sesame Street's cast of characters and through their collective behaviors, they taught us about letters, words, numbers, and a whole host of other valuable life lessons. However, they not only introduced us to those fundamentals, but perhaps more importantly, they passed along key insights into interpersonal relationships. For this reason, Sesame Street proved to be a leader in early educational programming. Oscar the Grouch was one of those characters, in spite of his pessimistic personality, but once you got to know him, he was as lovable as the rest of them. Well, I know one Oscar who favors his lack of celebrity far more than his on screen counterpart, and permit me to share my story.

I first met my friend I called Oscar years ago when we were freshman in high school while playing for the freshman basketball team. Over the course of the season, his round ball skills advanced while mine on the other hand, fell out of bounds. But in spite of our talent differences, our friendship grew, both on and off the court. We shared a number of classes together, but our athletic pursuits only crossed during the basketball season, as Oscar hit the gridiron in the Fall, while I rooted the team on from the stands. The annual Thanksgiving game, played against our arch rivals across the river, was held our Junior year under rather frigid conditions. The field was frozen, so the players opted to wear sneakers, instead of the traditional cleats. I had a pair of Chuck Taylor leather sneaks that were ideal for the tundra like track, so I loaned them to Oscar for the game. On a quarterback sneak in the first half, from our side of the fifty yard line, Oscar ran untouched to the end zone for our only score. I recall cheering for my friend running furiously in those "blue suede shoes", and with that scamper, he forever linked us in the lore of this annual clash.

In addition to the typical antics of high school, we were fortunate to have a mutual friend whose father loved playing golf, so our summertime activities would often take us to the links. We fancied ourselves better than average golfers, but the fellowship and laughs we enjoyed, far out weighed our talents. We learned about Little Joe's, Tres, golf etiquette, but most of all, we learned what is was to be friends. On one occasion, when I wasn't actually present, Oscar hit a divot right into the ear of one of our other friends. That particular incident is still brought up at social gatherings, even today.

Since those glory days, our paths have crossed far less frequently; however, whenever they have, the history between us allows the conversation to resume right where we left off. The quiet reserve of "middle age" has tempered those care free days of our youth, but through it all, the friendships remain. And in all the time I have known Oscar, I can honestly say that "grouch" would never have been used to characterize his personality. On the contrary, it might be more appropriate to think of the red carpet and that little statuette because he has always been the best. Happy Birthday JB!