Posted 5-17-19
I find it fun to occasionally compare different Sweet 17 members to famous people from Hollywood, especially since they are all, in my semi-humble opinion, leading-lady-quality sweethearts…and all I really am is a minimally-helpful paparazzi. It occurred to me yesterday that another workable comparison would be my favorite childhood cartoon, The Peanuts. Just like the strip, these ladies are lovable, somewhat flawed, and just like us. So join with me as I write in the text version of Miss Othmar’s voice on the cartoon. (Wmhahh whaa wa waaa wha whaaaaa)
There are no gents in mom’s memory unit, so I will give myself the title character of Charlie Brown since I am fairly round, have troublingly low self-esteem, threw a smuckleball in my early years of baseball and had no football skills.
Next up:
- Calamity “May”- This Belle, sadly, is Woodstock. She is fluttering all over the place with no real plan. Poor May lost her memory when I virus devastated the storehouse in her brain. Daily she gets up and reads her laminated sheet that tells her the following:
Your name is (Sweet 17 Mrs. M)
You are here because of memory issues caused by a virus.
Your kids will visit often.
You grew up in (nearby town).
Your room is 105.
We love you. - Mrs. M plays “the Little Red-headed Girl” in the unit. Mrs. M was a teacher for over 30 years in a neighboring county’s biggest school district. She, at nearly 90, has strikingly adorable red hair sprinkled among the silver.
- Marcie is an extraordinarily hard character to cast. Her primary attribute is her thick glasses and, while most of the Sweet 17 need glasses, most have lost them or forgot that they use them. Perhaps Mrs. B could qualify since she is the main one wearing them although I highly suspect they belong to someone else since they are on the tip of her nose most of the time and the dwarf her teeny noggin.
- Mrs. L, a no-show for more than two weeks now (??), plays the boisterous Peppermint Patty. Mrs. L, as deaf as a 1980’s hair band groupie, talks at a 95 level and sings at a 98 level most of the time. She is also quite formal and gruff, but in a fun and endearing way.
- Miss Barbie is clearly Sally. She always has herself prettied up with bling and always, always with something pretty in her hair.
- Mrs. Mary Lou is absolutely Linus because both have a love of their fidget blanket and will cause concerns without it! Loud ones. 😉 By the way, I was graced with a brand new blanket from my wonderful friends in the Mt. View Senior Center yesterday. Mom…and perhaps Mary Lou if she “borrows it”, will LOVE this beautiful piece.
- Snoopy, beloved Snoopy, could be poor a Mrs. W. (a different Mrs. W) She has Lewy Body dementia, marked by tremors and hallucinations among other symptoms. This sweet lady always smiles and says sweet things. She even grins while she sleeps in her chair at the dinner table. I often wonder if she is transformed into the WWII Flying Ace played admirably by Snoopy in the cartoons.
- Mrs. J clearly plays Lucy in our little Peanuts extravaganza. She is forceful, demanding that the ladies eat faster (!!) so she can clean up their food. She is pretty loud, but also can turn on a dime into the sweetest lady around. She, in case you wonder, is NOT an employee, but she wants to stay busy just in case an opening for a 90 year old dementia patient assistant position becomes available.She is a true gem.
- The closest thing to a Pigpen in the fray is Miss E, the elder stateswoman of the group. She is clean and prim and proper, but her onion-skin-thin skin is so easily bruised that she is blotched so much at any given time to appear dirty like Pigpen from the cartoon. She is a wonderful person who is often misunderstood when you only check out her externals. Despite a unhappy look on her face, she is very sweet, and loving. The stinkin’ disease has changed her face to look otherwise. Never judge a book by its cover and don’t judge unless you have walked a mile in her shoes.
- Mom- Clearly Schroeder albeit a female version. Mom can play the piano like a joyful virtuoso…maybe even today when I visit with her as I meet the new hospice team. She is serious about her love of piano, but not so much like the character who stared intensely at the keys as he tickled. Mom certainly has some Peppermint Patty tomboy in her, especially in her farmer girl youth.
In his farewell letter nearly 20 years ago, Charles Schulz, the inventor and illustrator of this comic left us with this note shortly before dying of colon cancer:
“Dear Friends, I have been fortunate to draw Charlie Brown and his friends for almost 50 years. It has been the fulfillment of my childhood ambition.
Unfortunately, I am no longer able to maintain the schedule demanded by a daily comic strip. My family does not wish Peanuts to be continued by anyone else, therefore I am announcing my retirement.
I have been grateful over the years for the loyalty of our editors and the wonderful support and love expressed to me by fans of the comic strip.
Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy…how can I ever forget them…”
The letter, with cartoons throughout, ends with Schulz’s signature.
These Sweet 17 ladies, and my mom, may not dance joyfully any more nor stroll through the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin, but they are all wonderful individuals with their own stories waiting for a friend, a family member or a stranger to come hear. If you have time, whether or not you have a loved one with the condition or not, find a way to serve or advocate for these gems today. Learn about the disease. Help a caregiver. They are worth every minute! And whatever you do, be sure that they too are never forgotten.
#EndALZ
Nice… Now I understand what the Sweet 17 stands for! 🙂