Hi   Thanks for the wonderful site. Im in Springfield Mo and am going to send it to my cousin in Tucson AZ.   We are both from Des Moines originally and both 54.

I really like the way the site opens with ..WHERE'S FLOPPY and the kids yelling.  I had forgot all about this.

  I didnt forget about the biggest pen in the world.. and the way Floppy's mouth would just hang open, as the question was asked YET AGAIN !  SIGH.

I was in Des Moines at the time of Duane's death.  Do you remember the feeling you got when you realized.... hey this means Floppy is gone too. 

I would like to share my last memory of Duane and Floppy. This was very near the time of his death..within a month or so.     

It was late one Saturday afternoon.  I was at HyVee on Harding Rd  ( I think they changed this to ML KING PKWY..but not sure . I havent lived there for a long time) .near Douglas in Des Moines.      I walked over to Drug Town after putting my groceries in the car.     

 It was about 5pm..late in the day...it was summe,r but the sun was way in the west. It was shady, as the store sits behind a hill, but still hot outside.          There sat Duane and Floppy at a little card table...right by the exit door of Drug Town.

    I was about ?? 40-ish + and REALLY wanted to go over and say 

HI FLOPPY !!  

 But felt a little silly doing this, so I just looked.......hesitated... FLOPPY LAUGHED AT ME ( and Duane smiled)  

I laughed and smiled back.  It brought a lot of joy to me.

When I left the store, they had gone.

On my way home, I was thinking about Duane's career....how after all these years on TV...here he is sitting at a card table at Drug Town ..with his little puppet.

  I thought, kind of a flunky little career, not really amounting to much.   Showing endless re-run cartoons, making State Fair appearances...not exactly a success.

Then, it was a matter of a few weeks, that I picked up the paper and saw : Duane Ellett dies of a heart attack while jogging.

  But what about Floppy..what happens to him ?

 I thought about my brother being on the show with his cub scout group, as well as, many of my friends and cousins.   I wrote my cousin ( from DM) in Davenport.  Duane and Floppy are gone.   He was upset by this too.  People at work, were talking about it.

    I then came to realize how he had a special place in everyones heart.  Everyone loved Floppy, even my dad, and people who were not kids growing up with Floppy.   He held a position of joy in everyones hearts that knew him.  

Later, I was watching TV.      Madonna, Michael Jackson were big at the time, and I realized.....for all their wealth and fame...not ever did they, or will they reach the star quality, in our hearts, as Floppy did.

  Floppy was a real star, that lit our hearts with laughter and joy.  He wasnt a manufactured promo, he was a genuine light in our lives. A shining STAR.   Duane dedicated his life to making children happy.  He didnt seek fame and fortune, he sought to make us smile.    His life was a success. More successful, than those people we think of as being successful...... and his riches will always live in our hearts. .  

"Friends are those who know the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten." 

     Thanks for the wonderful site.

              Stephanie