In the family conversation about which movie to go to I was understated in my preference. I really wanted to see the one about Mr. Rogers. As it happens my kids have no memory of him, since we were screenless in the 80's, when the first batch were small. In the 90's we got a video player, but no television, which is outside the realm of possibility now. We bought tickets online for Frozen, and arrived in time for the previews. But as chance would have it, the tickets were for another theater in the chain, and this one was sold out to an audience with a median age of five. We asked about a refund and the girl offered us a chance to see a different film playing.

 

"How about A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood?"

 

"Yes!"

 

There, the median age was much higher, though instead of noisy children there was a woman who could not stop coughing. I wondered if she was a plant, to calibrate our kindness quotient. 

 

The story pulled me in to the life of a self proclaimed broken man. He had his reasons for being rent in pieces, and he clung to them like armor to shield him from the emotions that hammered to get in. Or out, I'm not sure. Fred Rogers welcomed Lloyd into his sphere of influence, inviting him to his home, and on to the set, and even into the tiny castle of his puppets. He prayed for this man and his splintered family with sincerity and action. 

 

I was very moved. 

 

It is a matter of debate in some circles as to which travesties are unforgivable. Perhaps the choices of Lloyd's father could qualify, though being under the influence one forfeits the capacity to choose at all. Yet in asking Lloyd to forgive him he was very much present, both to the depth of pain he had caused, and the level of desperation he felt to receive it. 

 

Many of us are stepping in to the season of giving, one that has been muddied by motivations that have no place in the first Christmas story. Factors like cost, and environmental impact, color, and size all play out when we put a package under the tree. But the gifts that were exchanged between Mr. Rogers, and Lloyd, and his father are the kind that are both expensive and free, small enough to fit in your eyes, but large enough to climb inside to stay.