My Favorite Neighbor

As 2018 starts to wind down, we will soon be inundated with the annual "look-back" pieces that tell us how terrible a year it was and how we lost too many good people. It's pretty much what people say every year, but there are always plenty of wonderful moments as well.

This year, we were blessed with a reminder of what kindness, compassion and goodness look like in their purest forms. The documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" about the legendary Fred Rogers was the magic elixir for a time filled with anger, bullying and disrespect. It was a reminder of what we are capable of when we treat one another well.

https://youtu.be/a1VNXyNAwyM

I grew up watching "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood". It came on after "Sesame Street" and was filled with lessons about diversity and inclusion. About difficult issues like death and divorce. And, of course, about the Land of Make-Believe.

Twenty years later, I met Mr. Rogers while he was on-location in upstate New York shooting part of his show. I was working in public broadcasting. My colleagues and I could not resist asking him for a photo. It's one of my prized possessions. (That's me in the tie.)

I was crushed when he passed away. I cried. It felt like a very personal loss. A happy part from my mostly difficult childhood now gone. He died of stomach cancer in 2003, at the age of 74. My father had died of the same thing 15 years earlier. He was 76.

As often happens, I was moved to write as a way of trying to communicate and share what I was feeling. My essay was published as an op-ed in the Boston Metro and I thought I'd share it with you today -- 15 years later -- as a reminder of the impact one person can have on so many. Feel free to share your Mr. Rogers memories in the comments!

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Fred McFeely Rogers was never influenced by the fads and ratings stunts that guide today’s television shows. Rather, Mr. Rogers shaped television itself and public broadcasting, more specifically.

“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” despite its host’s retirement in 2000, continues as the longest-running program on public television with over 900 episodes in circulation. And it has been over these many decades that Mr. Rogers influenced the lives and childhood development of millions.

I’m not the television viewer I used to be, but my earliest memories of the medium all involve public broadcasting. There was “Sesame Street,” “Electric Company” and, of course, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

I quickly learned the show’s theme and would walk around the apartment singing it over and over again. I was captivated by the daily trips to the Land of Make-Believe and loved how safe Mr. Rogers made me feel about what all kids experience – from going to the dentist to dealing with loss. In my case, that also included my parents' divorce.

There was the trolley, Daniel Tiger, King Friday, X the Owl, Lady Elaine and the other residents of Make-Believe, plus Mr. McFeely and his Speedy Deliveries! I loved every minute of my time watching and learning from Mr. Rogers. The lessons within each episode stuck with me as I grew up. Many of the essential elements of who I am today were clearly influenced by the program.

Fast forwarding a few decades, I found myself working at a public broadcasting station helping provide the very same services I took advantage of as a child. Then, one day, it happened.

An artist from our coverage area was being profiled on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and the production crew – including the host himself – was shooting the segment on a sunny afternoon in Ithaca, New York. As the station spokesperson, it was my job to welcome the group to the area. Not that I needed a job title as an excuse to attend this shoot.

Once on location, I was introduced to Mr. Rogers. Celebrities generally don’t excite me. Being in movies or on television is just another job. But this was different. I was both excited and nervous. A colleague of mine even admitted that he hadn’t been able to have a cigarette all day because “I feel like I’m letting Mr. Rogers’ down!”

I didn’t think it was possible, but Mr. Rogers – I could never call him Fred – was actually nicer in person than he was on the show. He was kind, gentle and amazingly interested in each person he spoke with. He asked about our families and if he could see pictures of everyone's children.

Mr. Rogers is one of the finest people I have ever met. Remarkably, the time I spent speaking with him raised my opinion of him even more. It was easily one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had and he made it possible just by being himself.

These days, I still find myself humming songs from “Mister Rogers Neighborhood.” Today, I’ve been doing it even more. Like so many others, I feel blessed to have had Fred Rogers in my life -- even it if was mostly through a screen. Such memories make even this immensely sad day, a little more beautiful.

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