Old Friends

Growing up in the early 1970's, I was a Sesame Street kid.  Those were Pre-Elmo years back when the humans played a bigger role.  We're talking Gordon, Susan, Bob and Mr. Hooper.  It was also back when you're were a little afraid of Oscar because he looked a little psycho and frankly he knew it and didn't care. And don't even mention Cookie Monster.

My favorite skits were Bert & Ernie.  They were a comedy team in the classic antagonist/protagonist style, much like Abbott & Costello or Laurel & Hardy.

I found this Bert & Ernie place mat for a dime at the same sale I already blogged about here.  It just made me smile and I had to have it.

Thinking back, they were probably the first example of friendship I was exposed to.  Though harmless in intent, Ernie always managed to aggravate Bert to manic heights.  Even so, they always remained friends. Come to think of it, it was a good example or what friendship in the real world is, or for that matter, marriage.

Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy
Old friends, Memory brushes the same years, Silently sharing the same fear... 

Time it was  And what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence  A time of confidences

-From Simon & Garfunkel's "Old Friends/Bookends"