When the late great Fred Rogers was given the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 1997 Emmy Awards, he gave a selfless speech about loving one another and remembering those whom we loved and lost.
Fred Rogers Accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.
To further illustrate this beautiful point, Rogers asked the audience for 10 seconds of silence to remember those who could not be there on that night. His speech proved so powerful that much of the audience had tears in their eyes.
So many people have helped me to come here to this night. Some of you are here, some are far away and some are even in Heaven. All of us have special ones who loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, 10 seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are, those who cared about you and wanted what was best for you in life. 10 seconds, I’ll watch the time. Whomever you’ve been thinking about, how pleased they must be to know the difference you feel they have made.
Mister Rogers has always been spiritually generous. Whether he was introducing children to electronic music, advising parents about how to talk with their children about tragedy, testifying before the Senate about PBS funding, teaching us all to look for helpers in life, or inviting a friend to soak his feet on a hot day, Fred Rogers was the true embodiment of the best neighbor anyone could ever have.
