I recently bought this shirt, “Mr. Rogers Makes Me Happy.”
I love wearing it!
I grew up watching Mr. Rogers every morning. I remember waving sadly to my sister Kristy (two years older) as she would walk down our long paved driveway to catch the bus every afternoon to kindergarten. The best “distraction” for my disappointment about losing my playmate each day was this gentle and friendly neighbor. My mom would give me my “baby cup” filled with orange juice and I would take my own journey to Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
Now as a grown-up there’s something about seeing him wave as he walks through that front door that simply warms my heart.
This man inspires me. His passion for helping kids is unmatched. It’s obvious he had a clear mission and passion and went after it day after day, producing his iconic show for 33 years! He was an advocate for kids and education in a way that keeps me visioning all of the ways Kim & Jason can advocate for children also.
If I could have a conversation with Mr. Rogers today, I would love to chat with him about what we do and to talk to him about how children truly are our sherpas. I would love to thank him for being an example of someone who took risks for his passion and lived everyday with enthusiasm. He modeled all of our eight secrets everyday!
Take a peak at this neat tribute to a sherpa in a class of his own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlTjWUziZhg[tags]Mr. Rogers, advocacy for children, passion, enthusiasm[/tags]
Kim… Mr Rogers was an authentic sales guy…. he was passionate about his business..just like you and Jason are…. see my new blog and post about Mr. Rogers last August….
A great tribute. Thanks for the memories :)
Wonderful post.
Mister Rogers is a hero of mine, too.
The video brought tears to my eyes. May we give him voice as we speak to children, as he did, from the heart.
Kim, I posted about Mr. Rogers in June and September (http://coachlisab.blogspot.com/2007/06/mr-rogers-best-neighbor-ever.html and http://coachlisab.blogspot.com/2007/09/lesson-from-mr-rogers.html).
Both have links to video showing Mr. Rogers at his most amazing, and there’s also a fascinating article about him as well.
One video is of Mr. Rogers testifying before the Senate in 1969, in pursuit of a $20 million grant for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Watch how he opens the minds of the crusty old guys on the committee.
The other is his acceptance speech for receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Daytime Emmys (this one chokes me up).
I never watched Mr. Rogers growing up but found him as an adult and absolutely love watching the show. I love his childlike curiosity and compassion for everyone. We need more people like Mr. Rogers!
Mr. Rogers was cool. I know Kim has seen this, but I thought I’d share it with everyone… I wrote a poem about him shortly after he died… http://www.stevensauke.com/poems/MrRogers.html