Remember when you could write a letter to a movie star, politician, or hero and get a response? My house is filled with framed letters to me from, amongst others, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, futurist writer Isaac Asimov, Robert Goulet, the Lady-in-Waiting to Her Royal Highness, and Mr. Rogers himself.
I wrote to him when my son was 2 years old, hoping he would write back. I thought a letter from him would be a nice remembrance for David, an avid fan of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," the pre-school television series that ran from 1968-2001. I love it when Mr. Rogers writes, "You are fortunate to have a mother who cares so much about what is important to you."
With the two Mister Rogers films out in the past two years -- "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (film, 2019) and "Won't You Be My Neighbor" (documentary, 2018) -- we especially prize this letter. It's like having something from the cool guy in town.
One of my favorite Mr. Rogers quotes, and there were many, is: "All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we're giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That's one of the things that connects us as neighbors -- in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver."
It's a good feeling to know that Fred Rogers was a "Television Friend" to us all.
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