March 20th: Mister Rogers’ Birthday and Won’t You be my Neighbor Day?

Last week I, Catherine, joined the amazing Neighboring 101 webinar hosted by David Burton of University of Missouri Extension. The special guest was Chris Rodell, author of  "Growing Up in the REAL Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: Life Lessons from the Heart of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.” Rodell shared stories of Mister Rogers and his interactions in his own community. A couple of great quotes stuck with me.

Kindness is defiant

[Mister Rogers] is America’s most unusual superhero and his superpower is kindness.

I really enjoy webinars like this one because I am inspired by other people’s neighboring stories. It is good to be reminded that seemingly small acts of kindness make a big difference in our neighborhoods. When I first moved to SoCe (the South Central neighborhood of Wichita) in July of 2008 I sat in my front yard and observed neighbors. There were, and still are, superheroes on my block doing acts of kindness: a person walking their dog and rolling out other people’s trash cans or rolling them back up the driveway, a person observing a heavy box on a neighbor’s porch and offering to help carry it inside, a retiree sharing food with busy younger neighbors, and someone stopping by to check in with a neighbor whose pet recently passed away. A spirit of kindness already existed on my block and as I observed the network of care I wanted to jump in and connect to it. It was compelling!

(Some of the delicious plates of food I’ve received from neighbors)

This week, in celebration of Mister Rogers’ Birthday, I urge you to be defiantly kind and exercise your kindness superpower. You don’t need a cape to be a superhero!