It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! by DL Larson

The year was 1966, on October 27 when America witnessed Peanuts first Halloween special. Since then, I and anyone else as old as me, could have watched it every year for the last forty years! That's a lot of peanuts!

What makes a classic anyway? Is it when innocence is destroyed as when Linus realizes Lucy has killed the giant pumpkin by stabbing it and then scooping out the guts?

Or is it the humor of it all, and seeing ourselves portrayed in others? Like when Linus jumps into a pile of leaves with his sticky sucker, or Charlie Brown inevitably ends up on his back when trying to kick a ball? Those familiar mishaps happen to us all and we laugh at the absurdity of it being acted out.

But there has to be more for a cartoon/animated special to last forty years. The message, perhaps rooting for the underdog is universal too. Linus wants the Great Pumpkin to be as famous as Santa Claus. He even proclaims those in second place try harder! And so year after year, we watch Linus hunker down to wait for the Great Pumpkin's coming. And year after year we see Charlie Brown trying to console him when once again, the Great Pumpkin fails to show. Forty years and Linus refuses to give up!

I love that story! I too have been waiting a long time for my dream to become a reality. But I've learned something Linus hasn't. I can't wait beneath my blanky for a miracle to happen. I have to nurture my dream, I must cultivate it into something worthwhile. I prune, and tweak, and rewrite my dream until it is more than a wish, but a plan. I've taken my dream and worked it into something three dimensional.

And then, then I must show my plan to others besides my family and friends. That too reminds me of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, because I've received my share of rocks in the form of rejection letters. Over the years I've gathered a grocery bag or two, just like Charlie Brown receiving rocks when he went trick or treating. There's been friends too, who have helped me to come in out of the cold and misery when my efforts, my hopes didn't materialize as I thought they should. Lucy was there for Linus and I'm thankful for the friends and family who have helped me not to give up either.

Someday the Great Pumpkin will arrive! And I will be cheering right along with Linus, saying "I told you he was coming!" Until then, I plan to work hard, get the words on the paper the way I want them to read, and do everything in my power to keep my plan growing, letting folks see my work, and most of all, enjoy the journey.

Til next time ~

DL Larson