After seeing “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” based on the story of the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, known forever as “Mr. Rogers,” and after reading Tom Junod’s Esquire article that inspired the story and the movie

And eating a fine slice of upside down cake (it didn’t start out upside down, but it was accidentally dropped, the whole cake, whoopdedoo) with buttery cream cheese icing and a mug of hot tea, honey lavender, with pretty creamy white roses just a hair past perfect in a silver vase

But the roses and the cake had sparked hurtful words earlier and so there was sadness mixed with the sweet and loneliness because the person being celebrated wasn’t there

And the little cat with the big dark eyes kept jumping onto the table and nudging the fork and the stray rose leaf and the needy golden retriever insisted on having treats in a ball he rolled around on the floor with his nose

The giant saint named Bernard laid down under the window away from the growls of the golden and the basset just plain disappeared, probably heading for his soft bed

Misunderstandings happen when expectations clash

But the sign for friendship is interlocked index fingers, one from each hand.

“The connections we make in the course of a life — maybe that’s what heaven is, Tom. We make so many connections here on earth. Look at us — I’ve just met you, but I’m investing in who you are and who you will be, and I can’t help it.”

Mr. Rogers, to Tom Junod