St. Fred.

A couple of weeks ago, his holiness Pope Francis canonized Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII.  Fred Rogers should have been on that list.  I am only half Catholic, (long story), but why in the world Mr. Rogers was not on that list flummoxes me, my friends.  Seriously.

I owe a lot to Fred.  I call him Fred because I feel that not only was I his neighbor in my early childhood but I was also his friend.  Before I moved to Oklahoma, I had the occasion to attend an open house at WQED 

Pittsburgh and I got to meet the great man onstage after touring the Neighborhood Of Make Believe.

How many of you can say that?  Only one I can think of and I doubt he reads this blog so consider me your only friend that has been to the N-O-M-B.  

I take great pride in that.

If I were to list some of my heroes in life...people who I hold above all else when it comes to positive influence, invariably Fred Rogers is at #1.  He was a genuinely GOOD person.  Seeing the children's programs of today, designed primarily to sell toys, or computer games, the simplicity of the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood program seems antiquated and out of touch by comparison.  His show was different in that it did not hold me in a trance-like state staring at rapid fire images, but he always talked in a measured, even tone and most importantly, he talked to ME.  

He didn't talk down to me, he didn't baby talk or use jargon or jibberish, and he made the half-hour we spent together educational AND fun.  His communications skills were such that my mother remembers how I used to answer him when he would talk to me through the television.  People called President Reagan the great communicator, but he doesn't hold a candle to Fred Rogers.

The saddest part of this is that he has passed on, and it is highly unlikely, in the age of learning media "bombardment"...something Mr. Rogers himself detested...the concept of his program and the way it was delivered or presented, died along with him.  

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There will never be a program like Mr. Rogers Neighborhood or a man like Fred Rogers who will give as selflessly of himself to make the world better.  You can look to Pope John Paul II and other mean of goodness and peace, but they will generally impact our lives indirectly...from a distance.  Mr. Rogers impacted my life in a way that makes me feel good that I grew up reasonably right, and the mistake I made were just that...mistakes.  

Everyone made them.  

Learn from them and move forward.

God bless the man.