httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhwktRDG_aQ

Pure curiosity lead me to thumb through a book with an interesting looking cover: Dear Mr. Rogers, Does it Ever Rain in your Neighbourhood?: Letters to Mr. Rogers.

Realizing how wrong I had been about the man I had once assumed to be dull, I sought out information about Fred Rogers the person, not just Mr. Rogers the character.

During a time when children were often dismissed, Fred Rogers addressed them as whole persons with valid feelings and important ideas.

Fred Rogers passed away shortly after I fell for him.

Several years later, during an especially difficult time in my life, Fred Rogers spoke to me once again.

Then a picture of a much older-looking Mr. Rogers came on my screen, different from the man I remembered.

30 years later, Mr. Rogers had found a way to say the exact right thing to the scared little child inside me, as he had done for so many children before me.