My wife and I went to see It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, starring Tom Hanks, who plays Fred Rogers. It was a wonderful film, and I urge you to see it. There was one scene that will stick with me for a long time that touched me so deeply – I have to share it with you.

The scene takes place in a Chinese restaurant in Pittsburgh, where Fred Rogers lives. He’s there with a cynical reporter, Lloyd Vogel, who’s interviewing Fred for a piece in Esquire Magazine. Lloyd has quite a bit of anger in him, created by his tough father’s abandonment of him. Fred counsels him to move past the rage and disappointment. Fred tells Lloyd that while it’s painful, his father inadvertently helped him know right from wrong and helped him be the loving father he is today.

Then comes the moment.

Fred looks him in the eye, and before they start to eat the meal, says, “Let’s take a minute to think of all the people in our lives who have loved us into being.”

Everything in the movie goes silent – all the people in the restaurant are quiet. I’ve never seen anything like it in a movie.

I notice that everyone in the theatre becomes very quiet, and then I hear stifled crying and sniffling, and tears are running down my face because at that moment, we were all thinking about the people in our lives that loved us into being.

You are a special person. You are working in a profession that helps change the world. And you also change the lives of people by helping them give something of themselves to the world.

In short, it’s not easy.

But somehow, somewhere, people in your life have loved you into being this special person.

These are the people who loved me into being:

• Marvin
• Janet
• Francis
• Chris
• Mike
• Dave
• Alice
• Julie
• Jake
• Katie
• Richard
• Lindsay
• Charlotte

Who has loved you into being? Take a minute today to think about them and be grateful for how they helped you be who you are today.

Jeff

This post originally appeared on the Passionate Giving Blog on November 29, 2019.