Brought to you by the Letters 'P' and 'S' and by the number 40

Won't You Tell Me How to Get..How to Get to Sesame Street?

For forty years, around the world, there has been a safe place for children that has endured and grown.  Sesame Street has done so much good it has taught not only letters and words but also maths and confidence, values and a sense of humor, and most importantly, an all-conquering positive spirit.

The dream-child of Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett so wonderfully brought to life through Jim Henson's puppets, is the epitome of all that can be wonderful about television when careful planning and a dedication to making television educational meet creativity, love and a wild, unfettered imagination.

The catchy song "Sunny Day" by Joe Raposo certainly set the mood for a positive experience, no matter what was going on in Sesame Street that day.  Watching, enraptured, from age six to (well, I still watch it whenever I can), I remember feeling swept away in a sea of wonderful.  Whenever you turned on the set, and switched to Sesame Street, you knew that something magical was coming.  You knew that you'd learn, you'd laugh, you'd have something to feel happy about, something to feel proud about, and a new song to sing at the end of each magical episode.

So many wonderful days, so many wonderful lessons; maybe it's not the only thing on television that has made life better these past 40 years, but it has been one of the best.  Maybe not every street we live on is this warm and nurturing, but it should be.

Now, as my friend Sesame Street turns forty, I want to celebrate it, honor it, and wish it another very happy 40 to come, if we can raise another two generations of children with these values in mind, then there's hope for us yet.

...won't you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

40...40 wonderful years..Ah..ah..ah..ah!