Peanuts, Life and Hope

What is your favorite Peanuts character? Linus, Lucy, Pigpen, and Charlie Brown have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Yup, that makes me really old! This might sound really odd to some of you, but Charlie Brown has always been my very favorite character because of the hope that continues to come from his life. He always tries to kick the football, and to be a friend even though many of those around him don't seem to care.

Life isn't easy, and it's never fair, but you can find that little scrap of hope to continue putting one foot in front of each other. Why has Charlie Brown continued to hold our interest and be so much a part of our lives? He's been a part of how we think - think of the terms that have come from the strip. Security blanket, Pigpen, there are so many little things that were fun, and have given me that okay feeling about myself and that piece of life that surrounds me.

Like Charlie Brown, I was taken advantage of by others in my younger years. And like him I finally got the guts to stand up for myself against people who hurt me. So like him, I also have that little piece of hope that keeps me going.

But I am also a bit like Snoopy. I love his ability to be crazy, and to dream. Kissing Lucy is his payback to a rather mean tempered, controlling little girl who can make life a bit uncomfortable for all of us. His life is filled with friends and laughter. He gets away with a lot, mainly because he's a dog, and no one in that world seem to expect much from him. He's allowed to simply be himself.

I could go on and on because each character seems to have a bit of me, and maybe of all of us in them. What the Peanuts gang has to offer is real life - the pain, frustrations, and that ever present hope and laughter.

Who's your favorite person in Peanuts land...