When a friend told me that March 20th is Sweater Day in honor of Fred Rogers, a cozy, sweater-warm feeling enveloped me. For many years—now many years ago—Mister Rogers sang his daily welcome to the neighborhood to my children as I settled them with a snack in front of the television before dashing off to my nearby computer. I wrote my first published novel in 90-minute increments during Mister Rogers and Sesame Street. That was my allotted creative time, though truly all the time caring for my children was creative. And Fred Rogers (1928 – 2003), who would have been eighty years old this March 20th, contributed so much to the imaginative energy in my household, to making each day “a beautiful day in this neighborhood.”
Fred Rogers, wearing his familiar sweater and sneakers, did not overwhelm little children with splashy special effects and blasts of noise. He invited and shared and reassured. Looking them straight in the eye, he told them he liked them just the way they were and that they would never go down the bathtub drain. He introduced children to opera and showed them how crayons were made in a factory and explained that the bad and the sad things—such as divorce and death and war—were not their fault. Then, Mister Rogers led the children (and sometimes the parents, as well) to the Land of Make-Believe, where he encouraged them to use their own imaginations.
While choosing a sweater to wear on Fred Rogers’ birthday, I’m reminded of another special someone’s birthday. A little over twenty years ago, when my middle child turned three, it just so happened that on that day, Mister Rogers came out of his kitchen carrying a birthday cake with a lighted candle on top. Through the television screen, he looked into my daughter’s eyes and sang “Happy Birthday to my Friend.” She glowed with joy. And I’m still sweater-warm with gratitude to our beloved neighbor.
Rosemary Poole-Carter
For more information about Fred Rogers and Sweater Day, please visit Family Communications, Inc. at http://www.fci.org/
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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