days like this i remember back when i worked for MrRogers. did not have much interaction with the man really, aside for roughing first drafts of his fan-mail replies (yes he read every single one and made lots of additions and corrections) and putting away the puppets after shoots.

my favorite and also most heartbreaking memory was when i was 20, on a day when i was especially down. one of my friends was just committed for suicide and some others were falling apart at the seams - everyone and everything i relied upon for love and support crumbled around me and left me empty. during my internship that day Fred came up to me and asked if i wanted to talk. i explained to him about my friends and today's youth - how everyone i knew was depressed - how hopeless i felt. he hugged me and asked me if i thought it maybe had something to do with the violence on TV. which later i realized was not quite the comforting thing i wanted him to say,

but *shrug*