Twenty years ago today, humanity lost a treasure the likes of which it’s rarely known, Mister Rogers. Much like one of his modern day brethren whose halo still graces our atmosphere, Keanu Reeves, Fred Rogers was “love incarnate“, and there truly was no additional component to his character.

“He stayed the same human throughout the worst and the best in his life. He was pure … and people saw that.”

Perhaps my favorite part of every episode was the moment he’d meet me at my level, remind me that I mattered, and say things like …

“I like you just the way you are.”

“It’s you l like.”

“You’ve made this day special just by being YOU!”

“Look for the helpers!”

Indeed, it’s true that an entire generation of us were fortunate enough to have grown up with impeccable words such as those being planted deep within our psyches as the tentpoles for our core understanding of kindness, caring, empathy, patience, and compassion. He was so much more than just the PBS Kids TV host wearing his mother’s beloved hand-knit sweaters so many of us fondly remember watching on the screen while our mother’s were still in the kitchen keeping the home fires burning, he was a living transmission of love that left an imprint across our hearts of what humanity at its utmost and highest could look like that many of us still call upon and at least try to carry forward as adults.