Massachusetts Grads Go Absolutely Crazy When Mr. Rogers Sings This Song With Them
Awww, I loved stumbling upon this, because it's graduation season.
Fred Rogers was always a second father to so many of us growing up, glued to our television sets to watch Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. The show ran on PBS as a half-hour educational children's television series from 1968 to 2001, created and hosted by Fred Rogers himself.
He spoke directly to us as kids, took us on tours to various educational locations, showed us how to make arts and crafts, and played music. We sang together, and listened and learned from his puppets and the rest of the make-believe neighborhood where he interviewed people.
He was our neighbor, figuratively, and we understood that even as kids. We liked to watch him change his sweater and sneakers, and knew the show would transport us to peaceful learning and fun. His respect for children oozed off the television screen, and no matter what age you were and whether you understood or not, you knew he believed in you.
One of his most famous lines was telling us kids that the greatest gift we can give anybody is being our true, honest self. It's funny that that is a big part of today's verbiage about life. He also said we children can spot a phony a mile away. He made us feel special and important.
So what a perfect graduating class for him to speak to. After all, the class of 1992 is filled with students who grew up with this fabulous man. So here's the video of him asking the Boston University class to sing one of the most famous songs in our lifetime if you grew up during his era, "Won't You Be My Neighbor."
Fred Rogers passed away in 2003. May he continue to rest in power and peace.
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