Would You Be Proud of Me ?

"As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has- or ever will have- something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression."                                                                                  Fred Rogers

It would come as little surprise to anyone who has been following Someone To Tell It To for the past 12 years, that Fred (Mr.) Rogers has been a hero and role model to our Co-Founders Michael and Tom. Mr. Rogers’ words, work, and writing have featured prominently in scores of messages that Tom and Michael have spoken and written. Mr. Rogers’ life has served as a model for them - and for the organization as a whole - as our mission has expanded and grown into what it is today. Since its founding, we have had more than 20,000 listening interactions, have trained over 1,000 people in listening more intentionally, and have educated thousands more through our books, podcast, blogs, and speaking engagements.

That is why we are so excited to share that Someone To Tell It To is privileged to be partnering with the theater Open Stage, in bringing the original play, I’m Proud of You, to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania region, from March 22, 2025 through April 2025. The play, based on a nonfiction book - I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers - by Fort Worth, Texas journalist Tim Madigan, is the story of his friendship with Fred Rogers during the last seven years of Mr. Rogers’ life. It was adapted for the stage by Tim Madigan and Harry Parker, Professor of Theater, at Texas Christian University.

During a time when Tim was living with depression as his marriage was falling apart, his relationship with his father was fraught and distant, and his younger brother was dying of cancer, Mr. Rogers supported Tim emotionally, and reminded him that, no matter what, he was “proud of” Tim for who he was. That support sustained Tim through his brother’s death, and as Tim began to repair the relationships with both his wife and father, and ultimately, with himself.

The book was foundational as the inspiration for the creation of Someone To Tell It To, in 2012. Through it, Michael and Tom formed a close friendship with Tim Madigan that has been maintained through the past 12 years.

In November 2023, Michael and Tom were invited by Tim, as his special guests, to attend the play, I’m Proud of You, in Fort Worth. It is a beautifully moving, tender, and evocative account of Tim and Fred’s relationship and how it transformed Tim’s broken life. We are proud to endorse it and to collaborate with Open Stage to bring it to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The play will be a centerpiece of Open Stage’s annual Good at Heart Festival. We believe this play, along with the other offerings of the festival, will provide a welcome gift of hope and inspiration for this community, especially in these emotionally- and relationally-challenging times. We believe deeply that I’m Proud of You, along with the other offerings of the Good at Heart Festival, is an antidote that is profoundly needed for us all. 

We can’t wait to tell you more about this play and our collaboration with Open Stage. It is an incredible gift to Someone To Tell It To to offer this play to the community along with such a dynamic theater company. We are proud and honored to have this beautiful opportunity.

Pennsylvania is Fred Rogers’ home state. He was born in western Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh. A significant part of his life and his most well-known and cherished work was done in Pennsylvania. He died  and is buried in Pennsylvania. He is a cherished icon of our state, as well as a national treasure, beloved by millions and millions. It is our privilege to be an integral part of bringing this play to Pennsylvania, to honor him and to celebrate our dear friend Tim Madigan’s touching and redemptive story of loss and pain, emotional intimacy, deep friendship, empathy, and profound love.

Midway through the play is this beautiful scene, when Tim opens up so vulnerably to Mr. Rogers, uncertain of the response he might receive. But Mr. Rogers answers with amazing grace to Tim’s query. We invite you to come next spring to watch and hear and feel the whole story. You will be moved, uplifted, and given hope for the dark times in your life:

Tim:

‘“ … I have spent a great deal of my life struggling with my own feelings of humiliation and inadequacy. My dad seemed so ashamed of me when I was young, no matter what I did. I figured that someday, if I just did enough, I could make my dad proud of me, and if that happened I felt that I would be less depressed. I would be less afraid. I would be less ashamed. But no matter what I did, it never seemed enough. It has become clear that nothing I could do was going to impress my dad enough that he would be proud of me. I’ve spent a lot of time praying lately, and something keeps coming up when I do, something I need to ask you. You are different, Fred. I don’t have to do anything to earn your love and approval. You seem to see something in me that I can’t see in myself. So here is my question. Fred, would you be proud of me?”’ 

“What was I thinking? What would possess a man to write something like that? I guess the only thing that matters now is that I did write it and I did send it, and I wouldn’t be standing here if I hadn’t.” 

“Fred’s reply was dated July 1, 1996.” 

Fred: 

“My dear Tim. I am so humbled and grateful. You have paid me the highest compliment one human being can pay to another. That is, you have trusted me enough, and loved me enough, to allow me to visit your inner garden, the sacred place where the ‘essential invisibles’ reside. We rarely allow one another into that place. Too often, that is also where our secrets live. All of us have gone through a version of the dark night of the soul. We all have battled the inner furies as you are battling them now, Tim. It’s normal – it’s part of being human. But now you have taken such an enormous step; you have trusted me with your pain, and you have trusted me with that question that most of us want to ask of another, but rarely do. We all need someone to be proud of us, no matter who we are, or how old we are, or what our lot in life is like. So, YES, Tim, YES. I am proud of you and I have been proud of you since the day we met. Nothing could ever change that. Yes, Tim.I will always be proud of you. Love, Fred.’”

Photo by Giusi Borrasi on Unsplash