Remembering Mr. Roger

Growing up, I was never a fan of the TV show, Mr Roger's neighborhood. I could not understand why he would change his shoes and sweater when he went inside his house and I wasn't a big fan of The Neighborhood of Make-Believe. However, while listening to a This American Life episode, Neighbors that was originally aired in 2001. In the first act of the episode, Davy Rothbart, the creator of Found magazine, goes to visit Fred Roger's. As the story goes, on a family trip, when he was a child, following a correspondence between his brother and Mr. Roger, the family stopped by his house for a visit. Some number of years later, Davy Rothbart sets up a meeting with the aged Fred Roger. While listening to their conversations, focusing on neighbors and the general goodness that seems to be what comes out of Fred Rogers, including the following answer when Davy Rothbart asked Fred Roger about why neighbours are afraid to eachother and don't get to know eachother:

"I can tell you what i hope that I would do. I would hope that I would be brave enough to visit. It's so easy to condemn when we don't know, and if I would visit you and find out that you are a reasonable person, I could tell you about my sensitivities and see if it would make any difference to you."

After hearing the sensible good hearted responses Fred Roger had to say, I googled him and came across the PBS website for the television show. Within the website there are a few links on various topics of Thought for All Ages by Fred Rogers. Under the link for Growing in Adulthood, it lists three 'thoughts':

I recently learned that in an average lifetime a person walks about sixty-five thousand miles. That's two and half times around the world. I wonder where your steps will take you. I wonder how you'll use the rest of the miles you're given.

It's not the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides of life which ultimately nourish our souls. It's the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our very being is good stuff. That's what makes growing humanity the most potentially glorious enterprise on earth.

Please think of the children first. If you ever have anything to do with their entertainment, their food, their toys, their custody, their childcare, their health care, their education—listen to the children, learn about them, learn from them. Think of the children first.

Even though I may not have cared much for the children's show, I find it touching what Mr. Roger has to offer. I don't know if the show is still on the air, but I hope children growing up today are influenced by the mores and perceptions he offered.