One hundred years ago, when I first moved to Connecticut, I was overwhelmed. I was working at a new job where I very much wanted to succeed, trying to get the lay of the land in a state that was utterly confusing to me, and I was living in the old Parkview Hilton in Hartford with a husband and a toddler while our apartment was being readied. (You’d think living off of room service at someone else’s expense would be fabulous, but let me tell you, it gets old.) I was telling myself that I’d made a horrible mistake, moving east.
But then I’d come home and flip on the television and there would be Mr. Rogers, smiling and speaking in a calm voice and reassuring me that everything was going to be OK. He’d slip off his shoes and put on his house sneakers, and the cast of goofy characters would come by — Mr. McFeeley, Lady Aberlin and the rest — I would feel that knot in the back of my neck relax.
There was never what you could call an interesting story line and the production values were, well, not fabulous, but there was something about the show’s vibe that worked for me. I’d never watched Mr. Rogers before because I thought the show was better watched high and I am drug-free, but Mr. Rogers? I take that back. You got me through a difficult time and I love you. Even years later, the show will come on and I will sit and watch and feel myself settle down a little.
You can read more about the venerable television host (and Presbyterian minister) here. And I love the fact that even though he’s been gone nearly 10 years, someone thought to autotune him, and we are still talking about him (including whether he was a Navy SEAL or had a violent criminal past or bit the heads off of chickens in his spare time — none of which is true. There is no link for the chicken-biting as I totally made that up.).
Anyway. Thank you, Mr. Rogers.
Here’s a great article about the man; http://www.pittsburghinwords.org/tom_junod.html
I’m still disappointed that “Mr Rogers” wasn’t an option on my career test.
Wonderful article, and thank you! And I’d have loved to have been a character on the show, though I would probably have just stood and stared in awe at Mr. Rogers.
The story I love about him is that once someone stole his car outside the TV studio in Pittsburgh and when they realized whose it was, they brought it back.
LOVE that. I never heard that story!
That’s a great autotune. A great tribute to the man and the show.
Nice! He does have a calming way about him. I have a soft spot for Mr. Rogers, too. When I was 7 or 8, I watched his show. Things were changing at home and I was beginning to go to a baby-sitter’s house after school. I was feeling like I was too old for Mr. Rogers at the time, but it came on right before my Mom picked my brother and me up so that was our excuse to watch it along with another younger kid who always wanted to be the one to say, “There’s the stop light!” during the introduction. (funny the things you remember) For some reason I was shocked when it was still on when my kids were young.
The Parkview Hilton closed less than a year after we moved here. They sold off everything in the hotel, and we still have one of their “Hilton” bathmats from that sale.
I never made it to the sale, though I wish I had. That was my first home in Connecticut.
When our son was 2-1/2 we lived in my in-laws summer home while we found one of our own. The layout was odd and I couldn’t watch Tim from the kitchen. While I made dinner I parked him in front of Mr. Rogers. One day I returned to the living roni to find him having a seizure! A dash to the ER diagnosed Roseola and a high fever, he recovered just fine. He never liked Mr. Rogers again!!
That would do it. I once got sick after eating a banana split and though there was absolutely no correlation, I’ve not had one since.
I loved watching Mr. Rogers with our youngsters. Another program that I used to watch was “the Joy of Painting” with Bob Ross. He was so calming and soothing that I sometimes would doze off!
Wow. Don’t remember that one. Was it good?
Bob Ross painted “happy little trees” he wanted you to find where they lived in your painting. His voice could but one to sleep in a flash!
I must look this up. I could use the help, easing into sleep on some nights.
And, “happy little clouds”. I remember Bob Ross. He was very calming.
My kids watched Pappy Drewitt in Pappyland (another artist, but not a soothing, quiet one).
I wonder what happened to Pea Pod the pocket squirrel when Bob passed away into the great beyond with Mr. Rogers.
I have got to get out more.