Noodles

Hayden's 4th Birthday

When Hayden turned four he had a Sesame Street themed birthday party. My parents gave him a plush of almost every character in the Sesame Street lineup, and little did we know that was the beginning of a legacy (of sorts). That summer we took him to Sesame Place where we met Bert and Ernie-- definitely two characters he was partial to at that time. I can't pinpoint exactly when Grover moved up the totem pole, but once he did all the other characters were second rate (even Super Grover-- Hayden never liked him as much as regular Grover). Eventually Hayden started calling Grover by the name "Noodles", nicknamed after that goofy guy on Sesame Street named Mr. Noodles. Hayden has many Grovers but there has only ever been one Noodles.

A young Hayden with some of the Sesame crew-- original Grover in the middle

That plush has gotten a lot of love! So much so, that he had various nose surgeries over the years because the stitching just wouldn't hold as the fabric became so worn. I stitched and restitched the original nose as many times as I could. Eventually one day I had to come up with a new nose entirely, and the only thing I could find in our house that was even close to the correct shade of pink was a Dunkin Donuts hat. It was an orange and pink fleece-material winter hat. I cut out a section of the rim where there was some extra pink material on the inside, stuffed it with a few cotton balls, gathered the bottom so it was like a tiny pink balloon, and reattached it. That lasted for a while but then that fell off, too. One of Hayden's former teachers had given him a Grover puppet which he never really played with for whatever reason, so we were very grateful when the puppet agreed to donate his nose to save Grover-Noodles' face. It was a bit disproportionate as the puppet's head was bigger than the plush's head, but luckily the transplant was otherwise successful. And Hayden was never offended by the subtle phallic-ness of the disproportionate size. 

The original nose on the left vs the fleece nose on the right

Grover-Noodles with his umpteenth (& last) nose. The final transplant made possible by Grover the puppet.

Grover-Noodles has had many notable adventures. From winters playing in the snow with Hayden to places he traveled on vacation with us. One year Noodles even swam in Lake Lenape and had to go in the washing machine (which unfortunately his mouth never quite recovered from, and he was left with a permanent Elvis lip). Mouth and nose aside, he also had lots of repairs including openings around the top of his legs, as well as cosmetic restoration to the pupils of his eyes... and other minor procedures over the years. Sometimes Hayden got very nervous and couldn't watch, and other times he supervised me to the point that I could barely handle the pressure.

Grover-Noodles has made an appearance in family photos, he has accompanied us to school (on particularly rough days), and other times if Hayden was sick he didn't leave his side. Grover-Noodles has been a constant in Hayden's life for more than a decade-- and unfortunately often smelled like it! I mean thank goodness for fabric refresher sprays, but sometimes it gets rough. And in recent months the poor guy has looked even worse than he has smelled. 

On the evening of Friday, April 10th I returned home after running an essential errand and Hayden told me (in so many words) that Grover was gone, or that he got rid of him. I followed Hayden to the kitchen and he showed me the inside of the garbage can. There was Noodles, nose-less, laying beside a plastic wrapper from wipes and a paper plate. I asked Hayden where his nose was and he calmly said, "It's down there." I kind of got a lump in my throat but I said (something to the effect of ), "Well, he lived his best life and I am so proud of you for letting him rest now. You made him so happy and he lived the life that any toy would want!" I started to ask him if he wanted to have a service or something but then I caught myself and changed the focus. 

Grover-Noodles, the last time any of us saw him, in the kitchen garbage

At some point the next day when it came up in conversation, Hayden said something about the garbage people taking Noodles away to fix him up. I immediately reiterated that Grover was at peace and happily resting after a really good life. We shared the news with Hayden's counselor via a video session the following week, and he praised Hayden for knowing when to part with something that was broken. I mean Grover-Noodles' final resting place was a little sudden as far as Dan and I felt, and as a matter of fact on that night that Hayden chucked him in the trash Dan hadn't even realized that Hayden actually put him in there until I got home.

Interestingly, Sesame Street released a special just recently to help young children feel a sense of normalcy during such an unprecedented and abnormal time. It's about a half hour long and features Elmo having virtual playdates with friends, and is just like the view that Hayden has of people who used to come to our home. We recorded it and he has watched this particular show almost every day since it aired, which was actually four days after Noodles was laid to rest-- although technically one day before the garbage men actually took him away.

I will tell you one thing-- Hayden deciding to let go of Grover-Noodles once and for all... right now, during this time... of all the times that he could have possibly done this... I damn near felt like I needed to rescue Noodles myself.

This will definitely be a profound memory for us during this pandemic. I wonder who he will turn to for comfort next?

Farewell, Noodles-- you were so very loved by our guy! 

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A couple of other notable memories...

Years ago, introducing one of his cousins to Noodles

The last photo of them that was ever taken-- just before Passover, April 2020 during
a virtual story session with one of his therapists