In Honor of my Neighbor – A Tribute to Fred Rogers

By Jim McDonald

There are things I miss about being a child. There are some things I don’t like to let go of. Maybe this is why I still collect toys. Not the toys of my childhood, I handed those down long ago, but there are things about childhood I haven’t been able to let go of yet.

One of my favorite parts of childhood was Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Every day Mister Rogers would enter the room, exchange his jacket for a cardigan, and we would have a "television visit" for half an hour. After we talked for a while the trolley would come through and take us to the Neighborhood of Make Believe, where there was always a story to be told and a lesson to be learned. In the end, Mister Rogers would be there to help me understand, gently explaining in a way that was never condescending.

Throughout childhood I enjoyed these visits. I remember learning to change a washer in a kitchen sink, and seeing how adhesive bandages were made. Children throughout the world felt accepted when Mister Rogers told them "There's only one person in the whole world like you."

As I grew I knew it wasn’t in for me to watch Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood anymore, but still I enjoyed our "television visits" when I could catch them on the sly. I still watch on days I’m home sick from work. What still impresses me is Mister Rogers’ way of never telling his viewers what to believe. A religious man, Fred Rogers was a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and an ordained Protestant minister. Still, Mister Rogers never told his viewers what to believe, but led them to consider what is right, always showing faith in the inherent goodness of the children who watched, and never underestimating their ability to draw their own conclusions.

Fred McFeely Rogers passed away on February 27, 2003, and I truly feel like I lost someone I knew. At age 74, Mister Rogers succumbed to stomach cancer. Like many who were his "television neighbors" over the course of the 33 year history of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, I feel a sense of loss, but can’t help but smile at the memories I remain with. I am pleased that Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood will continue in syndication, allowing Fred Rogers’ work to continue even after his death.

Fred, for many years you asked me a simple question every day, and I never thought to answer you. I just thought you’d like to know, I would love to be your neighbor.