Life is a Family Circus

I was sad to read the news this morning but smiled as I thought of all of the years I have spent reading a very special cartoon that was created by a very special man.

I always enjoyed reading the antics of Billy, Jeffy, Dolly and P.J. and their parents reactions to what the kids did. Of course, I am talking about the cartoon, Family Circus, created by cartoonist Bill Keane. Keane died recently in Arizona at the age of 89.

His son said that the last conversation he had with his father was a simple one, "I love you" and his dad said, "I love you, too."

It reflects the simple message in the Family Circus cartoons. For instance, today's cartoon in our newspaper shows the kids riding on the school bus, windows open and homework blowing out the windows. The caption reads, "Oh NO! They'll never believe this excuse!"

Keane's Family Circus content is timeless. He took good, old-fashioned family life and turned it (and us) into a form of entertainment. What parent couldn't relate to those invisible "ghosts" who ran amuck in households? They went by names like "Ida Know" and "Not me." The "Ida Know" was a familiar guest in many a home. Keane managed to take everyday moments and transform them into simple messages of hope, laughter and family life. We'll remember him for the fun he poked at families, parents and kids but most of all, we'll smile as we remember that family life is often a circus but who doesn't love the circus?

Keane was once quoted as saying, "I don't go after the belly-laugh. Many of my cartoons are not a belly laugh. I go for nostalgia, the lump in the throat, the tear in the eye, the tug in the heart."

Today, there is a "tear in the eye" as we thank Bill Keane for fifty years of sharing the Family Circus with you.

Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-bil-keane-20111110,0,4886445.story

http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2011-11-09/Family-Circus-creator-Bil-Keane-dies-at-89/51141556/1