"Joanne Rogers — Mrs. Rogers — died this morning at the age of 92. There was no one else like her, except maybe her husband Fred."
- Tom Junod, Writer
You know how some families have framed pictures of the Pope? Or President Kennedy?
My family has pictures of Fred "Mister Rogers" Rogers.
I am eight years older than my sister, but Mister Rogers' Neighborhood spanned both our childhoods. The show premiered in the same year that my mother and father got married, and one of my earliest memories is my mother singing with me to one of Mister Rogers' albums. I wish I could say I remember the title. I just looked at the discography, and none of them ring a trolley bell.
After our mother died, Mister Rogers became the thing that made my sister and I feel better. We give each other gifts like Mister Rogers mugs (his jacket becomes a sweater when you pour boiling water in it!), magnets, and I even have a little Mister Rogers that talks when you push the top of the trolley! We loved getting my nieces into Mister Rogers, and yes, as a card carrying aunt I am fully aware of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and I support it and even know some of the songs. But Mister Rogers brings a comfort that Daniel Striped Tiger doesn't.
He was, and still is, the grownup that told us everything would be okay. And that's even more important now that we're grownups.
November 2019 was the first Thanksgiving without my stepfather. When I found out that the movie about Mister Rogers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, was going to be released on Thanksgiving Day, I suggested to my sister that we take her daughters, my nieces, to see the movie. It was a blessing because it gave us something to look forward to. I had just broken my foot the week before, so luckily we were in a theater that had recliners. The girls climbed all over the place, and the youngest, Frida, fell asleep on my lap and then woke up and ate my candy. It's okay, I ate her popcorn.
My sister texted me earlier this evening that Mrs. Rogers passed away, news that triggered sadness for the loss of the woman that kept her husband's legacy alive and told us funny stories about him on late-night shows.. Just a few hours earlier, I was playing was playing "'Member when?" with Frida, after I lost to her at Jenga (hey look, Jenga is hard). Do you remember when I came to your place, Erica, and we had ice cream? Do you remember when I took you to Five Below, Frida, and we got the unicorn you love? Do you remember when we snuck up on Mommy, Erica? Do you remember going to the Mister Rogeres movie, Frida?
She asked, "And I was a baby?"
"You were three. Almost four. You sat in my lap, and you fell asleep, and when you woke up, every time someone was on the screen, you asked, 'Is that Tom Hanks? Is that Tom Hanks?'"
"Oh, that's funny, Erica!" Frida replied, laughing at her younger self. Then she asked, "Who's Tom Hanks?"
I'm sure both Mr. and Mrs. Rogers would appreciate that story. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, for always reminding us to look for the helpers to feel better.
The picture of Mrs. Rogers is from pbs.org
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