Monday, August 21, 2017

Love and Love

Oh Drunkards...my heart aches tonight.

Jerry Lewis has died at the age of 91.


As a child of the 70s and 80s, of course my most vivid memory of the man is as the host of the annual  Muscular Dystrophy Labor Day Telethon.

If you're "of a certain age," you're currently smiling and saying "awww..."

You guys, the MDA telethon.

So, muscular dystrophy is a thing. It's a genetic disease that affects people for no good reason. You can read about it here.

And Mr. Jerry Lewis hosted an annual telethon to raise money for research and treatment of muscular dystrophy. And when I was a kid, literally Labor Day was about watching the telethon.

Hosting from Las Vegas, Jerry would bring on his famous friends, like Frankie and Dino, and then would cut away so local stations could make pleas for donations.

In Milwaukee, where I grew up, that meant Howard and Rosemary Gernette.


Who totally deserve their own post. If you grew up in Milwaukee,
they are Fred and Ginger, Han and Leia, Kim and Kanye, you guys.

To me, it meant something more.

My mom had a friend named Susie. And Susie had a son named Matt.

Matt had muscular dystrophy.

And he was my age.



Oh, you guys.

Most important...Matt is the kiddo seated bottom-left in this photo. This was first grade.

Later he relied on various apparati to get around.

But Matty was the face of MD in Milwaukee when I was a kid. And if my memory is not impaired, he also appeared on the MDA telethon, at least locally.

Matthew Klockow passed away, much too soon, in 2003.

And now Jerry Lewis is gone.

On Labor Day, I'll make a donation to honor them both.

I hope you will, too.

Thank you. <3

1 comment:

  1. Yes, of course I will donate. It's a worthy cause and an important one and I was asked to donate by a NICE LADEEEEE!!!!!!

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