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a twitter thread of 31+ tweets spanning 10 images, dated 22nd May 2017.
Image 1: a tweet by Dr. Paul (@/DrPnygard) that reads
On this day in 1967, a show featuring a kindly man in a cardigan & blue sneakers debute- [tweet cuts off]. Included is a photo of Mr Rogers, a white American man with bushy dark eyebrows and greying straight hair, looking over his shoulder while seated obscured by a colourful red object.
This tweet is replied to by Anthony Breznican (@/Breznican) who’s 31-tweets-long thread begins by saying
50 years … I have a story to tell about this man.
Image 2: A lot of people are sharing this quote after the heartbreak in Manchester. It’s also the 50th anniversary of Mr Roger’s Neighborhood. 1/
The tweet includes a black-and-white photo of Mr Rogers smiling to camera with the following quote added:
“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.’”
-Mr Rogers
Fred Rogers was from Pittsburgh, my hometown, and my generation grew up loving this man, who taught us to be kind above all. 2/
Image 3: Fred Rogers was the real thing. That gentle soul? It was no act. 3/
As I got older, I lost touch with the show, which kept running through 2001. But in college, one day, I rediscovered it… 4/
I was having a hard time. The future seemed dark. I was struggling, lonely, dealing with a lot of broken pieces and not adjusting well. 5/
I went to Pitt and devoted everything I had to the school paper, hoping that would propel me into some kind of worthwhile future. 6/
Image 4: It was easy to feel hopeless. One span was especially bad. Walking out of the dorm, I heard familiar music: 🎶 Won’t you be my neighbor… 7/
The TV was playing in an empty common room. Mr Rogers was there, asking me what I do with the mad I feel. (l had lots to spare. still do) 8/
It feels silly to say - it felt silly then - but I stood mesmerized. His show felt like a cool hand on a hot head. I left feeling better. 9/
Days later, I get in the elevator at the paper to ride down to the lobby. The doors open. Mr Rogers is standing there. For real. 10/
Image 5: I can’t believe it. I get in and he nods at me. I do back. I think he could sense a geek-out coming. But I kept it together. 11/
The doors open, he lets me go out first. I go, but turn around. “Mr Rogers… I don’t mean to bother you. But I wanted to say thanks! 13/
He smiles, but this has to happen to him every 10 feet. ‘Did you grow up as one of my neighbors? I felt like crying. Yeah. I was. 14/
Image 6: Opens his arms, lifting his satchel for a hug. “It’s good to see you again neighbor: I got to hug Mr Rogers, y'all! 15/
I pull it together. We’re walking out and I mention liking Johnny Costa (he was the piano player on the show.) We made more small talk. 16/
As he went out the door, I said (in a kind of rambling gush) that I’d stumbled on the show again recently, when I really needed it. 17/
So I just said, “Thanks for that.” Mr Rogers nodded. He paused. He undid his scarf. He motioned to the window, & sat down on the ledge. 18/
Image 7: This is what set Mr Rogers apart. No one else would’ve done this. He goes, “Do you want to tell me what was upsetting you? 19/
So I sat. I told him my grandfather had just died He was one of the few good things I had. I felt adrift. Brokenhearted. 20/
I like to think I didn’t go on and on, but pretty soon he was telling me about his grandfather & a boat the old man bought him as a kid. 21/
Mr Rogers asked how long ago Pap had died. It was a couple months. His grandfather was obviously gone decades. 22/
Image 8: He still wished the old man was here. Wished he still had the boat. You’ll never stop missing the people you love, Mr Rogers said. 23/
The grandfather gave Mr Rogers the row boat as reward for something. I forget what. Grades, or graduation. Something important. 24/
He didn’t have either now, but he had that work ethic, that knowledge that the old man encouraged with his gift. 25/
“Those things never go away,” Mr. Rogers said. I’m sure my eyes looked like stewed tomatoes. 26/
Image 9: Finally, I said thank you. And apologized if I made him late for an appointment. “Sometimes you’re right where you need to be,” he said. 27/
Mr Rogers was there for me then. So here’s this story, on the 50th anniversary of his show, for anyone who needs him now 28/
I never saw him again. But that “helper” quote? That’s authentic. That is who he was. For real. 29/
Image 10: When Mr. Rogers died in 2003, I sat at my computer with tears in my eyes. But I wasn’t crying over the death of a celebrity 30/
I was mourning the loss of a neighbor. 31/end
