Read this, not just to feel good but just because: Tom Hanks

For years I have been wishing I lived next door to Tom Hanks because I imagine asking to borrow a stick of butter, or having spontaneous small dinners, like BBQ or just wine and snacks together. Tom Hanks has always seemed like a smart guy who would be an easy neighbor.

Well, who would have thought he would be morphing into Fred Rogers and asking me "Won't you be my neighbor?"

In the 1970-80's I was working in Menlo Park and living in Daly City, at least a 30 minute drive in the car with my two kids. When I got home from work I would park those two kids shamelessly in front of the TV for 30 minutes and Mr. Rogers would occupy their small yet vibrant minds and calm them down after a day of stimulation.  The key words here are: Calm. Them. Down. Mr. Rogers did nothing to excite kids, he did everything to simply talk to them in a calm, nice, safe voice. However he did it, it worked. The kids watched, listened and chilled out.

Tom Hanks is now Fred Rogers in the just-released movie "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" and there is no one who could be better at Mr. Rogers than Tom Hanks and I say that without having even seen the trailer. I just know it.

I just finished reading an interview with and article about Tom Hanks in the NY Times. It is not often that a simple piece about a regular man written by a staff writer moves me to tears but this one did. Not just moved to tears but out-and-out crying.  But I felt in good company because the writer, Taffy Brodesser-Akner also confesses that in the middle of her research/dialogue/interview she also broke down in tears and Tom Hanks said "It's okay to cry. I am here for you. It's good to cry. It's good to talk."

Seriously, what movie star would say or do that? Well, Tom Hanks, I suppose. Which is another reason why I wish I lived next door to him.

Here is the article/interview. Read it. I have much more to say about all this because I have been in a state of .... what to call it? Angst? Unease? Crappiness?  Not sure how to identify it but I am getting closer to figuring out why. More on that later as well. 


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/movies/tom-hanks-mister-rogers.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage