I’m not talking about a book today. I haven’t quite finished Jenn McKinlay’s delightful romantic comedy, A Christmas Keeper, and it’s not fair to her or the book to review it before finishing. It will be my last review before Thanksgiving.

Instead, I’m going to talk about something seasonal, kindness and forgiveness. I went to see Tom Hanks in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” the other day. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s not a biography of Fred Rogers. It’s based on an Esquire article by journalist Tom Junod about the time he spent with Mr. Rogers. He was to profile him for an issue about heroes. What he found was a man who listened with his heart.

I’m not going to review the movie. I have friends who are planning to see it, and I’m not going to spoil it. Let me just say, the trailers don’t tell everything, and they don’t spoil the movie at all. But, there’s a message there that is timely, not only for the season, but for the past years as well. It’s a message of kindness, of listening with the heart, and of forgiveness. At one point, when the camera zeroed in on Hanks’ face (on Mr. Rogers’ face), it felt as if he could see into my heart.

I’m a little too old for Mr. Rogers. It started in 1968 when I was 11. And, I really only watched episodes here and there when I was babysitting. But, none of us are too old for the message of the movie, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”. It’s not going to win an Oscar for Best Picture. And, I had to smile when a friend said her husband would have fallen asleep in the first five minutes. It’s about Mr. Rogers, so it isn’t action-packed. If you go see it, though, with an open heart and a pack of tissues, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.