Mister Rogers was, perhaps more than anything, a generous and gifted explainer, and he took as his subjects not just what made us smile but what made us cry. This curious nerdy man believed that children should be protected but not fooled and thus his neighborhood, peopled with real people, was touched sometimes by great difficulty, divorce and even death. And when something sad or terrible occurred, he sat down, he did, because he loved and respected us so, and spoke to us.