{"id":665,"date":"2013-02-18T13:59:49","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T13:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=665"},"modified":"2013-02-18T13:59:49","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T13:59:49","slug":"raised-on-pbs-and-little-debbie-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=665","title":{"rendered":"Raised on PBS and Little Debbie . . . Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A 4 year old me & Mr. McFeely<\/p><\/div>\n

As much as I love Sesame Street, it wasn’t the only\u00a0program that I enjoyed on public television.\u00a0\u00a0Another favorite was Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.\u00a0 Whenever I see a trolley or a pair of navy blue Keds, I am transported back to being 4 years old and soaking up every minute of his show.<\/p>\n

There were several aspects of Fred Rogers show (and life) that were just plain magical to me.\u00a0 I adored how he focused right on the kids at home when he shook off the burdens of the outside world while changing into his beloved cardigan and sneakers.\u00a0\u00a0 The feeling that he was excited to be home to see me is a lesson that I have never forgotten. Of course, that routine wouldn\u2019t have been complete without feeding the fish in the aquarium. A simple act of love reinforced by repetition.<\/p>\n

I think my love of documentaries was forged while watching MRN, because I am still riveted by the episodes where he took us to the factories that made toilet paper and crayons.\u00a0 Seeing how something was made, really helped me to look at the world in a different way. In my grown-up hometown, we actually have a company named SpeeDee Delivery, and every time I see one of their trucks, I think of Mr. McFeely (more on him later) and smile.<\/p>\n

Yet it was when he sat by the bench seat next to Trolley\u2019s tracks that I loved the most.\u00a0 Even today in my forties, I sincerely wish I could travel on Trolley to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.\u00a0 As long as I can remember I have had a wonderful imagination, inspired by Mr. Rogers and nurtured by my parents.\u00a0 My imagination has been one of my very best friends, keeping me busy on many adventures throughout my life, and Mr. Rogers had a whole world of make believe.<\/p>\n

In the land of Make-Believe, I developed deep fondness for several characters, but I must admit, I wasn\u2019t all that crazy about Lady Elaine.\u00a0 As a true Southern girl, I always wondered who did her make-up, and I knew I didn\u2019t want to grow up to be a schemer like her.\u00a0 Daniel Tiger just made me smile, and I always wished he would learn to be bold.\u00a0 Henrietta had a \u201cpaws-tively\u201d charming effect of slipping \u201cMeow\u201d into just about every sentence.\u00a0 But my true love was X the Owl.\u00a0 His love of inventions and Ben Franklin, in particular, were right up this future science and math teacher\u2019s alley.\u00a0 Everything X did was exciting to\u00a0this little budding scientist.<\/p>\n

In my childhood hometown of Pensacola, a few years ago the PBS station was celebrating 40 years of broadcasting.\u00a0 I was asked (because my mom had connections) to come and be a part of a panel of speakers regarding how much that station had shaped our lives.\u00a0 (Life circumstances didn\u2019t work out; so, I didn\u2019t get to attend.)\u00a0 If I had, I would have shared some of the stories I am sharing in this series, along with this little nugget of trivia.\u00a0 Almost 40 years ago, I had a brush with my favorite mailman and another friend from MRN, Purple Panda.\u00a0 They came to Pensacola, and I had the opportunity to meet them and interact with them.\u00a0 I think I might have even been featured in the News-Journal as a photo all those years ago.<\/p>\n

What I remember from that day was how incredibly kind the characters were.\u00a0 How could they not be?\u00a0 They were a part of show created by one of the most loving, creative, and generous men to ever live.\u00a0 A few years back, I read an article written by a reporter who had a friendship with Fred Rogers.\u00a0 In the article the man shared how Mr. Rogers probably saved his life.\u00a0 It was through the genuine interest and care given by Mr. Rogers that the author realized that he was of value, thus saving him from a life-ending choice.\u00a0 The author shared that Mr. Rogers often ended his correspondence with four letters: IPOY.\u00a0 After many years of curiosity, he finally mustered the courage to ask what the four letters meant.\u00a0 The message was simple: I\u2019m Proud Of You<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

If I had\u00a0been able to\u00a0speak on the influence of PBS in my life, I would have shared how educational programming fostered my lifelong love of learning.\u00a0 I would have told how I was encouraged to dream, to create, and to use my imagination.\u00a0 Now, all these years later, I was utilizing those skills as a teacher and a mom to do the same for another generation of children.<\/p>\n

And in my heart, I believe that if I had ever gotten to meet him in person, Mr. Rogers would have penned an \u201cIPOY\u201d note to me, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As much as I love Sesame Street, it wasn’t the only\u00a0program that I enjoyed on public television.\u00a0\u00a0Another favorite was Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.\u00a0 Whenever I see a trolley or a pair of navy blue Keds, I am transported back to being 4 years old and soaking up every minute of his show. There were several aspects […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[176,293,314,340,431,432,443,468,472,506,583,663],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}