You're Special Just the Way You Are

Fred Rogers

A friend shared the above link, which is Fred Rogers testifying at the US Senate about PBS funding. It brought tears to my eyes.

When I was three years old, my mom went to the hospital to give birth to my sister Kate. While she was pregnant she knitted me a sweater. I requested that it have a zipper like the one Mr. Rogers wore. And the story that my mom tells is that I wore the sweater the whole time she was gone and would not take it off. (My Grandma Thomas, who stayed with me, told me that I wouldn't let her brush my hair while my mom was gone. She didn't mention the sweater. That's the way Family Lore goes, I think. People remember what is important to them.)

A writing teacher I know in Omaha is starting a writing/reading group for high school students with the intention of teaching social justice. I questioned him about that possibility and we have spent time discussing where it comes from. How do people have it and some people don't? How do you teach it?

I know that as an adult I still feel influenced by Mr. Rogers. I get the goosebumps to which the Senator refers.