The Old Man and the Henson

MORNING OF AUGUST 29, 2009

I had met some kindly old man and we'd apparently become friendly acquaintances. He was apparently an optometrist by trade, because my first clear memory is being in his office as he was performing an eye exam on me. I remember talking about my contacts, etc.

After the exam, he took me into a room in the back that looked like a huge bookstore, or perhaps it was even more specifically a comic store. It vaguely resembled a place I went to in Nashville, TN a few years ago called "The Great Escape". The old man was showing me around the place, pointing out different art books and such.

It turns out he was a famous cartoonist back in his heyday, and he was trying to encourage me and give me advice with my own cartooning. He reminded me of Charles Schulz, but I don't know whether or not he was necessarily supposed to be Charles Schulz.

Finally, I was in a back room of the store talking to my parents. They were thumbing through boxes of old record albums. My mom pulled out a Muppets album that had Jim Henson and Kermit on the cover. Upon seeing it, my dad casually mentioned that Jim Henson was scheduled to do a signing at this store in a couple of days.

I freaked out! The fact that he's dead didn't occur to me, I just thought it was great that Jim Henson was actually coming to the store, and I couldn't wait to go. My dad laughed, finding it ridiculous and for some reason surprising that I was so excited about meeting Jim Henson.