Rereading I’m Proud of You: My Friendship With Fred Rogers, on the 10th anniversary of its publication.
Favorites from Chapter One
- “Your wounded heart is a very beautiful heart,” Fred wrote to me during a time of great struggle. “In fact, it has probably allowed you to understand the hearts of all others who are wounded. And whose isn’t in some way. Some are just a little more obvious than others.”
- On April 3, 1998, I received this email from him at my newspaper desk.
“Even if you can’t believe in your own goodness from time to time, please know that I always do. You are a superb person. I feel constantly blessed to be able to call you my ‘Anam Cara.’ (Gaelic for spiritual friend.)”
- I woke up one morning to find this email from Fred, in which he quoted a prayer by a minister named Harry Emerson Fosdick. “We confess before Thee that if life were all smooth, there would be no patience; were it all easy, no courage, no sacrifice, no depth of character. We acknowledge before Thee that what is most admirable is the child of adversity and of courageous souls unafraid to face it.”
- And finally, on Jan. 14, 1998, he wrote this: “I hope you know — deep down — how important it is for me to have such a trusting and trustworthy friend. As you probably do know: I pray for you and thank God for you every day. My love is with you always.”
Yes, it is.
Peace, Tim
