A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The phone rang as I crawled out of bed on January 1^st.  On the line was my brother wishing me a Happy New Year.  The previous evening, he and my sister-in-law had spent a night on the town, taking in dinner and a movie, the recent flick, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”.  Gord’s encouragement to see the TIFF-premiered story of Mr. Fred Rogers found me on an early morning hike to secure the two remaining tickets for the late afternoon showing.

My friend Yvonne and I settled into the SilverCity recliners to watch the famous Mr. Rogers, a preschool icon of the best in children’s television for over 30 years.  I was eager to hear his message.  As a young adult in the ‘60s, I had glanced at Mr. Rogers’ program and dismissed it as juvenile, even saccharine.  How wrong I was.

As “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” unfolded, I was pulled into the amazing talent of this intelligent, faith-filled artistic, caring man who understood children and treated each one with the utmost kindness and respect.

Through his mantra, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” and the activities of life in an onscreen cartoonish neighborhood, Mr. Rogers taught children about the tender virtues of love, patience and respect while living and loving in their own neighborhood.

The huge swath of Mr. Rogers’ influence was demonstrated when a group of young adult passengers on a subway recognized Mr. Rogers and launched into a spontaneous and rousing rendition of his theme song.  Without doubt, I realized that Mr. Rogers’ work had left an indelible mark on lives that spanned several generations.

Mr. Roger’s life was devoted not only to children but also to his employees and everyone whom he met.  In fact, the movie’s focus was seen through the eyes of journalist Tom Junod, a young husband and father whose life and the lives of his family were changed radically due to Mr. Roger’s influence.

I hope you can make time to see “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”.

A documentary on the life of Mr. Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”  is currently on Netflix.

Submitted by Sister Jean Moylan

Weekly Pause & Ponder

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world."

 - Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers