The children in heaven have gained another friend
When I grew up, there were only about five channels to watch on television: CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, and, sometimes, an independent station. The majority of my television time was spent on PBS with "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", "Sesame Street", "Electric Company", and "Captain Kangaroo". Mister Rogers died last year and I cried, I cried in 1990 when Jim Henson (genius behind the Muppets) died, too. I'm crying again this morning. I loved Captain Kangaroo for his simple, loving, and intelligent approach to children's entertainment. He never talked down, he was never patronizing, and he taught so many simple lessons about interacting with others. I used to adore Mr Green Jeans, the silly Bunny Rabbit, and, especially, Mr. Moose.
I was just talking with Chris the other day about the importance of restricting what your children watch because of the vast amount of inappropriate viewing material that is being labeled "children's entertainment" these days. I mentioned all three of my favorite childhood shows as examples of what children should be watching and hoped that they'd still be available on DVD or whatever by the time any child we have is old enough to watch TV.
I know it sounds silly, because I certainly never knew any of these men personally, but this morning I truly feel as though I've lost not only a friend, but one of the last links with my childhood. So, goodbye Captain Kangaroo, I'm sure heaven will be wonderful after your long, lingering illness; the many, many children that live there now are sure in for a treat. (Could you also say hi to Mr Rogers and Ernie from "Sesame Street" for me?)
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