I took one of my kids to see a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” last weekend. She loved the music and the stories and the set, so parenting win! But I have to admit, I often feel really bad for Charlie Brown with the way everyone else treats him. Even Linus and Schroeder, who are usually good friends, occasionally use him as a punching bag. I was just wondering what would happen to these kids when they grew up. Then I decided I wanted to know how I would have their stories turn out. So please enjoy this indulgent fan-fic.
First off, Snoopy
Now, beagles don’t live very long compared to humans, but I’m not going to be grim about this. Snoopy lived a long and fulfilling life for a dog. He got to visit his relatives often, he saw generations of Woodstocks come and eventually learn to migrate and survive on their own. When he realized he was getting old, he hid a few key things around the backyard with some scent instructions. Years later, another family bought the house, saw the doghouse in the back, and bought a puppy. As that puppy investigated the yard, she discovered an old supper dish, to be worn as a hat; a WWI Flying Ace hat and scarf with the antagonism against the Red Baron; a dog-sized typewriter with an unfinished manuscript; and even instructions on how to access the spacious basement in her new home, complete with pool table. Her owners never quite understood why they couldn’t have a normal dog like everybody else.
Lucy
Lucy learned to control her temper and her tendency to lash out at others. She never lost her interest in psychology though and studied it in school, which may have helped her own self-growth. In her adulthood, she became a child psychologist who specialized in helping kids and teens with anger or control issues to work through it and thrive.
She never accepted patients who had trouble with comfort objects though. A little too close-to-home.
Linus
Linus remained a philosopher and deep thinker, but that was just a hobby. He followed in the footsteps of his favorite teacher and became an elementary school teacher. His students loved when he’d go off on deep (ish) rants on the philosophy or deeper meanins of, for example, play-dough sculptures or pasta necklaces. Kids in his classes tended to absorb a slightly higher vocabulary. In his family life, he made a lot of new holidays and traditions for his children and taught them how to have their comfort items but also learn how and when to give them up. (His blanket remains in his classroom serving whatever function feels appropriate at the time.) Every Halloween the family planted a very sincere pumpkin patch, and every year as the kids waited in it after dark, a large pumpkin would rise up and float away, leaving behind candy and treats for the kids- who would then go participate in trick-or-treating with their friends so they didn’t get left out.
Schroeder married Sally and became a stay-at-home dad to their two kids while Sally made her career as a grant and political speech writer. Schroeder played piano for every occasion he could find, from parties to community theater to participating in the local concert orchestra, and was happiest when someone would let him play Beethoven. Their oldest watched his dad play the piano from a young age, and to Schroeder’s delight, began plunking along when he could only crawl. Schroeder of course pulled his old small piano out of storage and gave it to his son, who happily patted on it daily. Before long, the random key-pushing became more guided, and with a dad who was all encouragement and a mom who saw it as a very healthy outlet, their son became a composer at a young age. At concerts performing his own concertos, their son would often pull his dad on stage to play a duet. Usually Beethoven.
And last but not least (for this post at least), Charlie Brown. He finally got up the courage to ask the little red-headed girl to a dance in high school and while they hit it off all right, it never turned into anything lasting. At the end of high school, when Snoopy was gone and he was feeling more lonely than usual, he arranged with his parents to go meet his long-time pen pal. He fell in love with the area where they lived and moved out there for college. Before long, he and his pen pal were dating. They eventually got married and Charlie Brown was able to start a new life among people who knew him for the dogged, determined, kind person he was and not the kid he used to be. I didn’t figure out what kind of a job he would go into, maybe being a barber like his dad, but I do know it doesn’t matter because he did his best at it but also didn’t put all of his time and attention into it. That went to his family and to the Little League baseball team he coached for years and years. He became known for his kind encouragement of even a team that struggled and, after a few decades, was honored when the town named the new Little League stadium after him.
Intellectual Property of Elizabeth Doman, except where the characters are concerned, who all belong to Charles Schultz & Peanuts
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