Won't You Be My Neighbor?

If you're at all like me, you grew up watching a tall, thin, soft-spoken man on television. Every day he entered into his house while singing a song, changing his jacket for a zipper-front cardigan and his shoes for sneakers. He spoke quietly, with a smile, telling us about his day and about the world around us. He introduced us to some of his friends like Mr. McFeely, Trolley, King Friday, Lady Elaine and Henrietta Pussycat.

If you're at all like me, you spent a chunk of your childhood growing up in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Just brought to my attention: this upcoming March 20 would have been the 80th birthday of Frederick McFeely Rogers, aka Mister Rogers, one of the coolest people ever to grace our little planet Earth. In honor of Mr. Rogers's legacy, folks in Pittsburgh are asking that everyone nationwide wear a favorite sweater on the 20th, and then send pictures/videos to neighbordays@fci.org . For a nice little video explaining the whole deal -- and hosted by Mr. McFeely! -- check out YouTube. As Mr. McFeely says, "We're asking everyone everywhere(from Pittsburgh to Paris) to wear their favorite sweater on that day. It doesn't have to have a zipper down the front like the one Mister Rogers wore on the program, it just has to be special to you."

So mark your calendars for Thursday, March 20, and wear your sweater in honor of one of the lovliest people we ever knew, Mr. Fred Rogers.