Mitzi had a neighbor she just loved named Mr. Roger. He lived at one of the houses near the entrance to their community, so she would always love saying she lived in Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.
The last movie I remember her being able to sit through with me was from July of 2018 when the documentary about Mr. Rogers came out. Mitzi absolutely loved it. Ordinarily, she would often fall asleep at various points in other movies because I think her brain would just go into overdrive and she would sleep to give her senses a rest. Not the Mr. Rogers movie. She laughed. She cried at all the appropriate times. She would even reach over and squeeze my hand at the sweet parts about friendship. And she never closed her eyes once to sleep. I loved sitting through that movie with her.
So I really missed my friend today when my boys and I went with a group of dear friends from our church to see the new movie about Mr. Rogers starring Tom Hanks. One of the things this movie captured so well was Fred Rogers’ ability to make every single person he interacted with feel special, appreciated, and so worthy of his time and attention. Even though I thought of Mitzi off and on throughout this movie, I couldn’t help but be reminded by the portrayal of Mr. Rogers’ example, that it is so very critical to take care of those struggling with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in much the same way. ????
