Charles Dickens wrote of children: "I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing, when they, who are so fresh from God, love us." Fred Rogers was loved by millions of children, and his life was no slight thing. He has left us today, and the world is much poorer for it.
I suppose one day I will have to tell my son, who watches tapes of Mr. Rogers with a gaze of adoration that few others receive so freely. But not soon. Mr. Rogers is still very much alive to my son, who believes him when he says in a hundred little ways: "God loves you, and so do I."
We love you too Mr. Rogers. Rejoice in your reward.
I want to share something that I think is just the most beautiful passage:
"If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."
Just to add a little excitement, who can tell me the writer?
One night months ago Caleb noticed that little bits of fluff from his socks had collected between his toes. "What's that?"
"Toe cheese."
"Oh."
This might have been a mistake. It wasn't really toe cheese in the improper foot care sense. It is only a matter of time before we have some embarrassing public announcement from Caleb about his prolific toe cheese. All sins of parenting incur punishment, believe me.
So now every night when we put on pajamas Caleb wants to hunt for toe cheese. He squats down in his tighty-whiteys and pulls his socks off by the toes, stretching them to three times their previous length. Then he inspects the spaces between his toes in very methodical fashion. He starts with the big toe and its second-in-command, seizing each and pulling them wide apart. When he finds some lint (lint, I tell you) he gasps excitedly and says "Toe cheese!" He wipes it out with his finger and moves on to the next space. "Toe cheese!" Wipe, then pull apart the next pair. "Oh, no toe cheese." "Haah, toe cheese!"
"Hey man, do you ever notice that your toe cheese is the same color as your socks?"
