2003-02-27 - 10:08 a.m.

i just heard that mister rogers died.

let's take a minute.

i grew up watching mister rogers. watching him come through the door, take off his jacket, put on his sweater, take off his outside shoes, put on his inside shoes, and so on and so on. i remember wanting my dad to come home from work and change into a sweater and inside shoes but that never really happened. when my dad got home he wanted to walk around in his button down shirt, tie removed, black socks and his underwear. very homer simpson, i know, but still-- the guy was an engineer for gods sake, spending his days designing rockets and space shuttles-- if he came home and wanted to be in his underwear, then holy-moly, he should be in his underwear.

i don't think i ever wanted 'mister rogers' to be my dad-- it wasn't that, it was just that he always talked in such a calm voice, explaining things, teaching things, sharing things. i guess i wanted him to be a neighbors dad-- so i could come over and watch that train up close, or open the closet door and see what else was inside other than just the sweater and the jacket.

i hope the sweater that he's wearing now includes a set of wings.

xoxoxo mister rogers. miss you already.