Best of '18: Won't You Be My Neighbor?

"What would Fred Rogers do"? It's not a question that you can answer. The most important question is, "What are you going to do?"

So many things to write about here..... Do I write about how the Oscars mean so much to me and this movie's lack of a nomination was the biggest snub of the 21st century? Do I write about how I had to change my contacts after this movie because I cried so much? Do I write about how Mr. Rogers is the greatest role model of the modern age? Do I write about how much I value my upbringing without cable television and how my family measured time in segments of PBS programming (1 hour=Sesame St., 30mins=Mr. Rogers, 15mins=Neighborhood of Make-Believe)? Do I write about how as Mr. Rogers said, "love is the root of everything - all learning, all parenting, all relationships..."? I think I'll just cede my space to the most powerful moment in this film:
From the time you were very little, you've had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, loved you into loving. So, on this extra special day, let's take some time to think of those extra special people. Some of them may be right here, some may be far away. Some may even be in heaven. No matter where they are, deep down you know they've always wanted what was best for you. They've always cared about you beyond measure and have encouraged you to be true to the best within you. Let's just take a minute of silence to think about those people now.


The images that come to my mind are many: parents, teachers, friends, coworkers, students, family members, parishioners, and strangers that showed you love for as little as a few seconds. Now, as the quote says above, "What are you going to do?" Mr. Rogers doesn't simply want you to think about those people. If he did, he wouldn't ask you to silently reflect for a literal minute. He wants you to be inspired by how they made you feel. Mr. Rogers wants us to live every moment, in all that we do, carefully and consciously to be that person, to be that force for love for someone else.