Confession time. Though I adore Kermit the Frog and The Muppets in general. I have to admit I never really saw the appeal of Elmo. I thought he was red and loud and squeaky and really the antithesis of Kermit. How wrong can one person be?

Really, really, REALLY wrong. On Saturday, I was wearing my Muppets as Beatles on Abbey Road, t-shirt, so my music teacher told me about a great documentary I should check out called, “Being Elmo”, a great story about the puppeteer who created the famous muppet. Not being a big Elmo fan, I was skeptical but thought, hey maybe they will talk about Kermit. I sat down ready to “endure” Elmo’s genesis to get some Kermit/Jim Henson tidbits. What I experienced was a great story about someone following his dream to work with Muppets on Sesame Street. He had a dream and followed it and took wonderful chances and made great personal sacrifices. Not only did this man work with Kermit Love, Jim Henson, and Frank Oz he was respected by all of them and a lot of other people. He does work with the Make A Wish Foundation and countless other organizations that are actively engaged in making people’s dreams come true and I found out when he created Elmo he was told by Frank Oz to find a hook, the one thing that would make that character work, and so he decided it would be about love. Elmo always loves you, Elmo is always happy to see you. What I learned much to my delighted surprise, Elmo embodies all things Kermit, just in red fur not green fleece. Color me Tickled.