Ms. Rachel cries over gift from her husband and her hero Mister Rogers

Ms. Rachel is sharing the gift her husband gave her after she’s been feeling down.

The children’s content creator took to Instagram on May 5 to share she had been “feeling down about everything.”

“When you’ve worked for 20 years serving children of so many different backgrounds because you care deeply about them (and) people try to say you don’t, it hurts,” Rachel Griffin-Accurso, known widely as Ms. Rachel, said.

In an effort to cheer her up, her husband Aron Accurso gave her a gift. Feeling pessimistic, Ms. Rachel admitted she “didn’t think any kind of gift would help. I’m not into material things.”

“I said in a sad voice, ‘Is it a Mister Rogers autograph? That’s the only thing that would cheer me up,’” she said.

Little did she know, it was exactly that.

“I opened it (and) was moved to tears, touching the paper,” she said. “I’m crying right now as I type this. I was holding something my hero had held (and) wrote music on.”

It was just the inspiration Ms. Rachel needed.

“I felt the strength to push on for kids no matter what. The first time Aron & I met we talked about how we both compose (and) as many of you know we write music together (and separately) for the show,” she continued, explaining the significance Mister Rogers, real name Fred Rogers, had on her life.

Ms. Rachel recalled asking Accurso on one of their first dates if he liked Mister Rogers.

“Even before I got into kids media, I thought about Mister Rogers a lot. When I was a little girl (raised by an amazing single mom) I watched lots of PBS. When Mister Rogers’s trolly headed back through the TV tunnel I tried to physically block it with my hands because that would mean the show would go on longer.”

“As a Christian, I deeply admire his faith (and) commitment to every neighbor. I cried in the documentary when they showed him swimming every morning (and) praying for everyone. I pray daily (and) ask God how I can help children?”

Now, she takes solace in knowing her hero also faced backlash “for things he did but knew were right. I will ask myself what he would do. I will never stop following my calling, which is serving young children and their families.”

Ms. Rachel and Accurso recently welcomed their second child into the world, a baby girl named Susannah.

The couple also share a son, 7-year-old Thomas.