A Neighbor’s Gift

Some neighbors on my floor, a retired couple (she’s a teacher, he’s a geologist), have created a menagerie of miniature Sesame Street plush dolls on the bottom half of their front door. They went so far as to buy little Elmo, mini Grover, and all the others in the gang, open up their backs, embed magnets, and restitch them–so the dolls could be easily attached and detached from the door. It’s a surprising and beautiful sight–and do you know why they did it?

So that the little toddler at the far end of the hall who was born premature and is just learning to walk would have this great treat to visit and enjoy every day. Whenever I see her enjoying the display, I always ask her to show me how Elmo dances. And she either takes Elmo off the door and makes him dance or she forgets him and just starts dancing herself–much like my kids used to do.

Eric Messinger is Editor of New York Family. He can be reached at emessinger@manhattanmedia.com