Meidam said her son never missed a day of Mr. “Somehow, Fred Rogers seemed to be a guiding force in ways of comfort security, hope and determination for my son and myself.”
Rogers would always quell my son’s fears of all his medical trips, tests, surgeries that he would endure, and Fred would reassure Christer about how brave and wonderful he is,” Meidam wrote. Nordstrom faced brain surgery, scoliosis surgery and other trials and tribulations in his young life. Rogers, but the two continued writing letters for years following that day. They visited the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and met many other cast members from the show. Meidam said he was as kind, gentle and sweet as you would imagine. Nordstrom and Meidam went to Pittsburgh 29 years ago to meet Mr. She said Nordstrom has a rare disease, and when he was 10 years old, he used a Make A Wish wish to see his favorite person, Mr. Loved it.”Ĭindy Meidam in Appleton shared a story about her son, Christopher “Christer” Nordstrom. “I will never forget his kind smile and friendly personality,” Albrecht wrote. When he reached his floor, Rogers got off and told the family to have a nice day. We talked about the weather and how big the hospital was.” “My idol standing right beside me, I was in awe. “He said hello to us, and I nearly fainted,” Albrecht wrote. As they stood in an elevator, the doors opened and Fred Rogers walked in and greeted them. ‘I was in awe.’Ĭindy Albrecht from Menomonee Falls shared that when she was 10 years old, she and her family visited Minnesota and were touring the Mayo Clinic. “We will never fully know the impact of his work, but I think Fred would be just fine with that,” Lancelle wrote. Rogers’ compassion and love for Jeff Erlanger, a Wisconsin resident and advocate for disability rights, made an impact on how he works with people who have disabilities. Rogers, watching how he treated every adult and child on his program with utmost respect. Lancelle said he also became a better special education teacher from what he learned from Mr. I will take a look at one of his books or even show my children an episode about the given topic.” When I don’t know what to say to my children when presented with these deep and sensitive subjects, I go back to Mr. “Such topics as death, divorce and emotions are subjects we as adults struggle with on our own. “Fred Rogers was able to shine a light on things that are so difficult to communicate to children,” Lancelle wrote. Rogers to help communicate deep and sensitive subjects to his own children, and he uses the empathy and patience he learned from Mr. Garrett Lancelle is a father of three young children and is a special education teacher in Weston. Let’s take a look at what memories and lessons readers shared with me: ‘He is still making a significant impact on children’s lives.’ The world needs some inspiration from Mr. You will always find people who are helping.’” “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, recently referenced a Rogers quote that many turn to when the world feels dark, heavy and stressful. It’s also hard to miss the timeliness of some of the messages Mr. I received dozens of emails with people happy to share memories and lessons they learned as both children and parents. Rogers, or what memories they had about him or the show. Ahead of his birthday, I asked our readers all over the state what life lessons they learned from Mr.
Rogers’ impact is evident throughout Wisconsin.
Fred Rogers would have been 92 years old on March 20, and although the children’s TV show host died in 2003, his lessons of empathy, compassion and his reassurance through life’s struggles live on in thousands of people.