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A disclaimer: I wasn’t around to really witness what happened when this took place on Sesame Street, I was too little, I have seen the famous scene with Big Bird played over and over again however, but anyway, this is my take on how other characters might have reacted. I’d like to dedicate this to my good, dear friend Ryan (theprawncracker) and all others who have lost a grandparent over the last year, I know there’s a few of you out there and I hope this brings a little comfort to all of you.
The day started out just like any other on Sesame Street. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and kids were playing out in the street. Big Bird was roller-skating, Ernie was bugging Bert and Oscar was telling people to scram. The adults were busy as usual with their daily jobs and activities. Everything seemed perfectly normal. Except for one thing, Hooper’s Store, which normally opened bright and early, was still closed.
At first, those walking by didn’t give much thought to it; perhaps Mr. Hooper was getting a late start or maybe had to go order some supplies. But as the day wore on and it was getting to be close to lunchtime, something appeared to be very wrong. Bob noticed it first and was very concerned. He called Gordon and Susan and they agreed to meet him and go together to Mr. Hooper’s apartment. Bob had an extra key since he kind of helped look after the gentle older man.
When they arrived and unlocked the door, their worst fears were realized when they discovered that Harold Hooper, who had been such a good friend, a father figure and grandfather figure to so many on Sesame Street had died in his sleep. Susan cried quiet tears while Gordon and Bob rushed around making calls and doing what they could at that moment. The coroner came and took over a little bit later. Now the three adults were faced with the challenge of alerting the rest of Sesame Street to the news.
They came downstairs and saw David walking up to Hooper’s Store preparing to start his afternoon shift.
“Why isn’t the store open guys? Have you seen Mr. Hooper?” asked David. He then saw Susan’s tear stained face and the grim looks on Bob and Gordon’s faces.
“Oh no, when did it happen?” he asked.
“Sometime during the night we think,” said Bob getting a little choked up. Maria came upon them at this moment and also asked what was going on. She too began to cry when hearing the news.
David, who had a key to Hooper’s Store, opened the door and let the five of them inside. He shut the door behind them and didn’t turn around the closed sign.
“We have to tell everyone, Bert and Ernie, Oscar, Grover, Big Bird…” said Maria and began to cry harder. Finally Gordon and Bob broke down as well and for a moment they all sat and sniffled and sobbed together and then were silent.
“It’s not going to be easy, but everyone has a right to know. Mr. Hooper meant so much to everyone. We need to let everyone know as soon as possible,” said Gordon breaking the silence.
After discussion, it was decided that they would split up and spread the news as quickly as possible. Gordon and Susan chose the difficult task of telling Big Bird while Maria chose to talk to Oscar. Bob said he’d find all of the monsters and David said he’d go to Ernie and Bert’s.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Maria wiped the tears from her face and knocked on Oscar’s trash can. When he didn’t answer, she reached down and pulled him out the way she did when they had lost Big Bird on Christmas Eve.
“What do you want skinny? I’m kind of busy,” said Oscar in his gruff voice.
“Well, not that you probably care, but I just thought you should know that Mr. Hooper died today,” said Maria.
“What? What makes you think I wouldn’t care? Grouches sometimes have feelings you know!” exclaimed Oscar angrily.
“Well, usually you don’t care much about anything, so I thought it wouldn’t matter to you, I just thought you should know. And there’s going to be a lot of sad people wandering around here for the next few days so you should do your best to be nice and leave us alone!” shouted Maria before sitting down on the steps and crying some more.
Oscar was silent for a moment and then spoke to Maria. “He never cared that I was a grouch. He liked me just the way I am. He…said that it was who I am and he liked me for it,” Oscar said softly.
“Yeah, that was Mr. Hooper all right. I don’t think there was anyone he didn’t like,” said Maria standing up after calming down.
“I think I’m going to miss him. And I hate that. And usually grouches like hating things, but I don’t like hating this. It actually makes me kind of sad,” mumbled Oscar.
“Oscar, it’s ok to cry,” said Maria.
“Who said I was crying,” said Oscar trying to hide the sniffles that were coming.
“Oscar? Do you need a hug?” asked Maria.
Oscar thought for a moment and then shook his head and opened his arms. Maria excepted and let him cry on her shoulder for a few seconds.
“All right, all right, that’s enough. I got a reputation to uphold,” said Oscar pulling away quickly and shaking it off.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
David walked down to the basement of 123 Sesame Street. He knew this would be difficult; Mr. Hooper was like a grandfather to so many on Sesame Street, himself no exception. But he knew that Ernie and Bert had shared a very special moment with Mr. Hooper on Christmas Eve a few years back and since then had been especially close to him.
“Here goes nothing,” thought David and knocked on the door to their apartment.
“Ernie get the door,” said Bert working hard on adding some new paper clips to his collection.
“Bert, I’m really busy with this puzzle, can’t you get the door?” asked Ernie.
“Ernie! It’s your turn, please get the door!” yelled Bert.
Ernie didn’t argue and got up to answer.
“Oh, hi David, what are you doing here?” asked Ernie.
“I need to talk to you guys for a minute,” said David.
“Bert get over here, David wants to talk to us,” said Ernie.
“Ok, ok, I’m coming,” said Bert getting up to join them.
“Ok, guys, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to come out and say it,” said David nervously.
“You can tell us anything David!” said Ernie cheerfully.
“All right. Umm, Mr. Hooper, he died in his sleep last night,” said David slowly.
“No!” said Ernie.
“Was he sick?” asked Bert.
“I don’t think so; I think he was just old guys. It was his time to go,” said David.
Bert and Ernie asked David a few more questions which he did his best to answer. But, he had to get back and see what he could do in helping with the arrangements, so he told Bert and Ernie they could come and talk to him anytime.
“Gosh, I’m really going to miss Mr. Hooper. He was the nicest man,” said Ernie sniffling a little.
“Yeah, it’s sad, well, I’m going to get back to my paper clips,” said Bert unemotionally.
“Bert, don’t you want to talk about Mr. Hooper a little bit?” asked Ernie.
“No, I’m very busy Ernie,” said Bert and started to hurry away. But, Ernie was persistent.
“Bert, come on, why don’t you want to talk about this?” asked Ernie.
“Because there’s nothing to talk about. Mr. Hooper is gone, it’s sad, but let’s get on with our lives,” said Bert.
“Bert, what’s going on?” asked Ernie.
“Ernie, just leave me alone,” yelled Bert.
“Not until you tell me why you won’t talk to me!” Ernie yelled back.
“Because if we start talking about memories, I’ll start to cry and if I start to cry, I’m afraid I won’t stop!” said Bert starting out yelling and then growing very soft.
“Bert, it’s ok to cry. We need to share memories of Mr. Hooper. It will help keep him alive in our hearts,” said Ernie softly.
“I guess you’re right…” said Bert tentatively.
“Remember when we didn’t have any money that one Christmas Eve?” asked Ernie.
“Yeah! And we wanted to get each other a soap dish and a cigar box for Rubber Ducky and our paper clips!” said Bert excitedly.
“But we each traded Rubber Ducky and our paper clips to get the presents!” continued Ernie.
Bert started to laugh, “Yeah, what a surprise when we opened up each others presents”
“But then Mr. Hooper came and brought Rubber Ducky and our paper clips back to us,” remembered Ernie.
“Yeah. That was one of the best Christmases ever,” said Bert.
“He was a nice man,” said Ernie.
“He really was…so why did he have to die?” asked Bert beginning to let himself cry.
“I don’t know Bert,” sniffled Ernie.
And with that both friends broke down and started to hug. “We’ll miss you Mr. Hooper!” they shouted together.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bob’s experience with the monsters did not go too badly. He found Grover and Cookie Monster and several others. They were sad and had many questions, but Bob was able to answer most of them. Grover wanted a hug, Cookie was wondering who would make cookies for him to come and eat and Herry wanted to know what was going to happen to Mr. Hooper’s body. Bob did as much as he could for each of the furry monsters.
He returned to Hooper’s Store where people were gathering to share memories of Mr. Hooper and to grieve together. He found Gordon and Susan and walked over to them. He wanted to know how it went with Big Bird.
“He took it pretty well I think,” said Gordon.
“Well, I’m not real sure he understood what was going on and he really didn’t ask any questions. I’m really concerned that he doesn’t understand what death means,” said Susan.
“Hmm, well I guess we’ll have to see what happens in the next few days,” said Bob and joined others at a table to talk about Mr. Hooper.
Their fears were confirmed the next day when Big Bird brought pictures of everyone that he had drawn and wanted to give one to Mr. Hooper. They had to explain again that Mr. Hooper wasn’t coming back.
“Never?” asked Big Bird tearfully.
Maria felt as if her heart was breaking when she stood up to hug Big Bird. They talked about memories and that they were all lucky to have known him. They finally got through to him and then he said “I’m gonna miss you Mr. Looper!”
“That’s Hooper Big Bird! Hooper!” said Maria. Everyone smiled just a little bit. Some things don’t change.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A memorial service was held a few days later. The entire population of Sesame Street gathered to say goodbye. Even Kermit came to pay his respects even though he was busy making movies in Hollywood. Mr. Hooper had even meant a lot to him. He got up and said a few words about how Mr. Hooper taught everyone to love one another and that he was a dreamer, much like another close friend of his. He finished by singing “The Rainbow Connection.” There was not a dry eye in the entire chapel.
Slowly, life returned to normal on Sesame Street. For the first few nights Big Bird had a few nightmares, but Gordon and Susan were always there to calm him down. He cried sometimes, but not too much. Bert and Ernie planted a small memorial garden in their window box for Mr. Hooper and it was soon inhabited by small creatures called Twiddlebugs. David took over the operations at Hooper’s Store and business had never been better. People stopped in for the same things they did before, but also to share memories of Mr. Hooper. David never got tired of hearing them. Yes, life went on. Kids continued playing in the street. Big Bird got back to roller-skating and Oscar started telling people to scram again. Big Bird hung his picture of Mr. Hooper right over his nest so he’d see it everyday and those who passed by would also see it. Mr. Hooper smiled down on Sesame Street. He was gone, but he would never be forgotten.
To all those who have lost a loved one, especially Ryan on this day, know that they are also smiling down on you and that they also will never be forgotten.
The day started out just like any other on Sesame Street. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and kids were playing out in the street. Big Bird was roller-skating, Ernie was bugging Bert and Oscar was telling people to scram. The adults were busy as usual with their daily jobs and activities. Everything seemed perfectly normal. Except for one thing, Hooper’s Store, which normally opened bright and early, was still closed.
At first, those walking by didn’t give much thought to it; perhaps Mr. Hooper was getting a late start or maybe had to go order some supplies. But as the day wore on and it was getting to be close to lunchtime, something appeared to be very wrong. Bob noticed it first and was very concerned. He called Gordon and Susan and they agreed to meet him and go together to Mr. Hooper’s apartment. Bob had an extra key since he kind of helped look after the gentle older man.
When they arrived and unlocked the door, their worst fears were realized when they discovered that Harold Hooper, who had been such a good friend, a father figure and grandfather figure to so many on Sesame Street had died in his sleep. Susan cried quiet tears while Gordon and Bob rushed around making calls and doing what they could at that moment. The coroner came and took over a little bit later. Now the three adults were faced with the challenge of alerting the rest of Sesame Street to the news.
They came downstairs and saw David walking up to Hooper’s Store preparing to start his afternoon shift.
“Why isn’t the store open guys? Have you seen Mr. Hooper?” asked David. He then saw Susan’s tear stained face and the grim looks on Bob and Gordon’s faces.
“Oh no, when did it happen?” he asked.
“Sometime during the night we think,” said Bob getting a little choked up. Maria came upon them at this moment and also asked what was going on. She too began to cry when hearing the news.
David, who had a key to Hooper’s Store, opened the door and let the five of them inside. He shut the door behind them and didn’t turn around the closed sign.
“We have to tell everyone, Bert and Ernie, Oscar, Grover, Big Bird…” said Maria and began to cry harder. Finally Gordon and Bob broke down as well and for a moment they all sat and sniffled and sobbed together and then were silent.
“It’s not going to be easy, but everyone has a right to know. Mr. Hooper meant so much to everyone. We need to let everyone know as soon as possible,” said Gordon breaking the silence.
After discussion, it was decided that they would split up and spread the news as quickly as possible. Gordon and Susan chose the difficult task of telling Big Bird while Maria chose to talk to Oscar. Bob said he’d find all of the monsters and David said he’d go to Ernie and Bert’s.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Maria wiped the tears from her face and knocked on Oscar’s trash can. When he didn’t answer, she reached down and pulled him out the way she did when they had lost Big Bird on Christmas Eve.
“What do you want skinny? I’m kind of busy,” said Oscar in his gruff voice.
“Well, not that you probably care, but I just thought you should know that Mr. Hooper died today,” said Maria.
“What? What makes you think I wouldn’t care? Grouches sometimes have feelings you know!” exclaimed Oscar angrily.
“Well, usually you don’t care much about anything, so I thought it wouldn’t matter to you, I just thought you should know. And there’s going to be a lot of sad people wandering around here for the next few days so you should do your best to be nice and leave us alone!” shouted Maria before sitting down on the steps and crying some more.
Oscar was silent for a moment and then spoke to Maria. “He never cared that I was a grouch. He liked me just the way I am. He…said that it was who I am and he liked me for it,” Oscar said softly.
“Yeah, that was Mr. Hooper all right. I don’t think there was anyone he didn’t like,” said Maria standing up after calming down.
“I think I’m going to miss him. And I hate that. And usually grouches like hating things, but I don’t like hating this. It actually makes me kind of sad,” mumbled Oscar.
“Oscar, it’s ok to cry,” said Maria.
“Who said I was crying,” said Oscar trying to hide the sniffles that were coming.
“Oscar? Do you need a hug?” asked Maria.
Oscar thought for a moment and then shook his head and opened his arms. Maria excepted and let him cry on her shoulder for a few seconds.
“All right, all right, that’s enough. I got a reputation to uphold,” said Oscar pulling away quickly and shaking it off.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
David walked down to the basement of 123 Sesame Street. He knew this would be difficult; Mr. Hooper was like a grandfather to so many on Sesame Street, himself no exception. But he knew that Ernie and Bert had shared a very special moment with Mr. Hooper on Christmas Eve a few years back and since then had been especially close to him.
“Here goes nothing,” thought David and knocked on the door to their apartment.
“Ernie get the door,” said Bert working hard on adding some new paper clips to his collection.
“Bert, I’m really busy with this puzzle, can’t you get the door?” asked Ernie.
“Ernie! It’s your turn, please get the door!” yelled Bert.
Ernie didn’t argue and got up to answer.
“Oh, hi David, what are you doing here?” asked Ernie.
“I need to talk to you guys for a minute,” said David.
“Bert get over here, David wants to talk to us,” said Ernie.
“Ok, ok, I’m coming,” said Bert getting up to join them.
“Ok, guys, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to come out and say it,” said David nervously.
“You can tell us anything David!” said Ernie cheerfully.
“All right. Umm, Mr. Hooper, he died in his sleep last night,” said David slowly.
“No!” said Ernie.
“Was he sick?” asked Bert.
“I don’t think so; I think he was just old guys. It was his time to go,” said David.
Bert and Ernie asked David a few more questions which he did his best to answer. But, he had to get back and see what he could do in helping with the arrangements, so he told Bert and Ernie they could come and talk to him anytime.
“Gosh, I’m really going to miss Mr. Hooper. He was the nicest man,” said Ernie sniffling a little.
“Yeah, it’s sad, well, I’m going to get back to my paper clips,” said Bert unemotionally.
“Bert, don’t you want to talk about Mr. Hooper a little bit?” asked Ernie.
“No, I’m very busy Ernie,” said Bert and started to hurry away. But, Ernie was persistent.
“Bert, come on, why don’t you want to talk about this?” asked Ernie.
“Because there’s nothing to talk about. Mr. Hooper is gone, it’s sad, but let’s get on with our lives,” said Bert.
“Bert, what’s going on?” asked Ernie.
“Ernie, just leave me alone,” yelled Bert.
“Not until you tell me why you won’t talk to me!” Ernie yelled back.
“Because if we start talking about memories, I’ll start to cry and if I start to cry, I’m afraid I won’t stop!” said Bert starting out yelling and then growing very soft.
“Bert, it’s ok to cry. We need to share memories of Mr. Hooper. It will help keep him alive in our hearts,” said Ernie softly.
“I guess you’re right…” said Bert tentatively.
“Remember when we didn’t have any money that one Christmas Eve?” asked Ernie.
“Yeah! And we wanted to get each other a soap dish and a cigar box for Rubber Ducky and our paper clips!” said Bert excitedly.
“But we each traded Rubber Ducky and our paper clips to get the presents!” continued Ernie.
Bert started to laugh, “Yeah, what a surprise when we opened up each others presents”
“But then Mr. Hooper came and brought Rubber Ducky and our paper clips back to us,” remembered Ernie.
“Yeah. That was one of the best Christmases ever,” said Bert.
“He was a nice man,” said Ernie.
“He really was…so why did he have to die?” asked Bert beginning to let himself cry.
“I don’t know Bert,” sniffled Ernie.
And with that both friends broke down and started to hug. “We’ll miss you Mr. Hooper!” they shouted together.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bob’s experience with the monsters did not go too badly. He found Grover and Cookie Monster and several others. They were sad and had many questions, but Bob was able to answer most of them. Grover wanted a hug, Cookie was wondering who would make cookies for him to come and eat and Herry wanted to know what was going to happen to Mr. Hooper’s body. Bob did as much as he could for each of the furry monsters.
He returned to Hooper’s Store where people were gathering to share memories of Mr. Hooper and to grieve together. He found Gordon and Susan and walked over to them. He wanted to know how it went with Big Bird.
“He took it pretty well I think,” said Gordon.
“Well, I’m not real sure he understood what was going on and he really didn’t ask any questions. I’m really concerned that he doesn’t understand what death means,” said Susan.
“Hmm, well I guess we’ll have to see what happens in the next few days,” said Bob and joined others at a table to talk about Mr. Hooper.
Their fears were confirmed the next day when Big Bird brought pictures of everyone that he had drawn and wanted to give one to Mr. Hooper. They had to explain again that Mr. Hooper wasn’t coming back.
“Never?” asked Big Bird tearfully.
Maria felt as if her heart was breaking when she stood up to hug Big Bird. They talked about memories and that they were all lucky to have known him. They finally got through to him and then he said “I’m gonna miss you Mr. Looper!”
“That’s Hooper Big Bird! Hooper!” said Maria. Everyone smiled just a little bit. Some things don’t change.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A memorial service was held a few days later. The entire population of Sesame Street gathered to say goodbye. Even Kermit came to pay his respects even though he was busy making movies in Hollywood. Mr. Hooper had even meant a lot to him. He got up and said a few words about how Mr. Hooper taught everyone to love one another and that he was a dreamer, much like another close friend of his. He finished by singing “The Rainbow Connection.” There was not a dry eye in the entire chapel.
Slowly, life returned to normal on Sesame Street. For the first few nights Big Bird had a few nightmares, but Gordon and Susan were always there to calm him down. He cried sometimes, but not too much. Bert and Ernie planted a small memorial garden in their window box for Mr. Hooper and it was soon inhabited by small creatures called Twiddlebugs. David took over the operations at Hooper’s Store and business had never been better. People stopped in for the same things they did before, but also to share memories of Mr. Hooper. David never got tired of hearing them. Yes, life went on. Kids continued playing in the street. Big Bird got back to roller-skating and Oscar started telling people to scram again. Big Bird hung his picture of Mr. Hooper right over his nest so he’d see it everyday and those who passed by would also see it. Mr. Hooper smiled down on Sesame Street. He was gone, but he would never be forgotten.
To all those who have lost a loved one, especially Ryan on this day, know that they are also smiling down on you and that they also will never be forgotten.
and 
. That was one of his best moments.