Recently, the girls and I watched the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood based on the 1998 article written about Fred Rogers in Esquire magazine titled “Can You Say … Hero?” by Tom Junod. My children had already seen the movie with their grandparents but had wanted us to watch it. I’m sure that my reaction was a bit different from my children’s first viewing. They saw a man that they had heard of but not ever watched on TV. Even though they loved the movie and came away thinking Fred Rogers was the sweetest man next to their two grandfathers their experience was different than mine. Their faces didn’t light up the familiar opening credits and seeing the cast of characters from my childhood- Lady Aberlin, Daniel Tiger, Mr. McFeely, and even the Neighborhood Trolley that took us to the Neighborhood of Make Believe. It was another glimpse to a simpler time for me. Raise your hand if you wouldn’t mind going to the Neighborhood of Make Believe right about now.
Watching the movie made me think about his famous quote based on advice Fred’s mother gave to him as a child:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers—so many caring people in this world.”
This morning while walking I started to notice the “normal” things for this time of year. I took a deep breath in and, as usually follows, a deep breath out. Amidst all the chaos around us there is still the normal things going on showing us that the Spring season is here. I swear overnight the dogwoods started to bloom and the white blooms of an azalea shrub in the wooded part of our yard are about to explode. Easter is coming my friends. The Masters may not be but Easter is…
The pink azaleas and fig bushes are not far behind.
Even the purple wisteria that is beautiful, yet painfully invasive, has made its yearly debut on the edge of our property.
Ole Corona can’t stop Spring from coming and we can’t let it stop us from seeing the normal in all of it’s glory. There are things during this season that will be different this year, but there is a heck of a lot more that will be the same, we may just have to look a little harder for it this time around. Much like you would a well hidden Easter Egg. Look for the normal.
Darcy is also trying to look for the normal…just kidding, she’s totally freaked out that that we are all here ALL THE TIME now and is constantly following us around like she is a dream and doesn’t want to wake up.
My Unorganized Life 