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Before I begin this blog, I want to apologize for the lack of activity this week as there has been a lot going on with the aftermath of the water leak in my apartment as well as a ton of family visits between now and early June. But, I can assure you all that there will be content for this week, albite a bit later than normal.
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Now that disclaimer is out of the way, I wanted to spend this blog paying tribute to someone who was a big part of many childhoods including my own and how it’s a perfect example of what happens when neurodivergents are faced with death.
I am, of course, talking about Richard M. Sherman, one of the famous Sherman Brothers songwriting team who passed away on May 25th at the age of 95. Like a lot of his fans, I felt a sense of emptiness when I heard the news and I couldn’t help but feel a tear in my eye. I mean, this was a guy who wrote some of the greatest songs anyone could listen to. Even after his brother Robert died in 2012, he kept going right up until the end, playing the song, “Feed the Birds,” on the piano in Walt Disney’s office for the short “Once Upon a Studio” last year.
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But hearing about his death also brought to mind a question of how neurodivergents react to the death of someone who a huge part of their lives was, even if they never met them in person physically. I say physically, because the someone we are close to has been seen in other forms of media such as television, movies and the news media. Just because you never met the person, it doesn’t make their death any easier.
In a way, we all tend to be in denial when someone passes on. The problem is that there are some people out there who often view this as an annoyance and a hinderance. I mean, take Fred Rogers for example. When he passed in 2003, many of his fans mourned him and there were probably others out there who couldn’t really understand why he was being mourned. In their minds, they were probably thinking that the person should get over it and move on.
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The fact is that neurodivergent and developmentally different individuals have a tendency to be emotionally attached to something even after that something has run it’s course. In the case of Richard M. Sherman, so many have grown up listening to his music that they refusing to believe he is gone. But just because the man is gone, doesn’t mean his music is. However, that’s easier said than done.
The fact of the matter is that some will probably never get over Richard Sherman’s death, even if he did live to the age of 95. I’ve actually heard a few neurodivergent individuals say that they wish someone they love could live forever, but that’s not how nature works. We can think like the person is alive when they are really not.
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This happened with Richard M. Sherman himself after Walt Disney died in 1966. You see, Walt Disney had a favorite song in “Feed the Birds” from “Mary Poppins” (1964). Often on Friday afternoons right up until his death, Walt would call the Sherman Brothers into his office and play “Feed the Birds” on the piano of his office. Once Walt passed on, Richard continued to come to the office and play “Feed the Birds” on the piano. You might say it was his private way of mourning along with his brother, Robert. Walt was like a father to them and he treated them like his own sons.
I say to you that if you see someone behaving in a strange way and singing songs from “Mary Poppins” or “Winnie the Pooh,” please do not judge them because that is their way of mourning or coping with Richard M. Sherman’s death. In fact, there are even people who still are having a hard time getting over Queen Elizabeth II’s death nearly two years ago and that’s okay. We can mourn for as long as we want to because that’s how much of an impact that was made on our lives.
But all that matters right now is that Richard, Robert and Walt are together again and all we can have are memories of the times we had with the Sherman Brothers in our lives.
RIP Richard M. Sherman (1928-2024)
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Catch you all later!!
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