Do You Want To Build A Snowman

I bought Amelia a really nice Wizard of Oz calendar in my annual day-after-Christmas-50%-off-calendar binge. It was printed on thick paper, wire-bound, and included a large, detailed map of the Land of Oz. Amelia liked it. She was kind as she looked through the calendar with a smile both on her face and in her eyes. Yet. She had her heart set on a Frozen calendar. And. She has her aunt’s heart tied around her finger. So. I exchanged the really nice Wizard of Oz calendar for the trendy Frozen calendar. I was sort of sad. Amelia was thrilled. And then I felt a little less sad when Amelia got to her favorite page of the calendar—a picture of…Anna. Not Elsa. Anna.

Shortly after I went to see Frozen, I wrote a note about my dislike of the song, “Let It Go.” The song itself is fine, I suppose—when it’s not being screamed inappropriately by elementary-aged girls or when it’s not being sung prematurely for the plot—but it is not, to me, what the movie is about. Yes. Elsa must overcome the lie that was drilled into her as a child and young teenager—that she should “conceal, don’t feel”—and she must learn to be herself by embracing all of who she is—which is the most important thing that anyone can do—but Elsa would be nothing without the constant, steady, persistent love of her sister, Anna.

Whenever I start to ask anyone a question that starts with the words, “Do you want to…,” I find myself singing the opening motif to the song, “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” Sometimes I just sing the question. Sometimes I continue onward and make up an entirely new song. Do you want to eat a cupcake? Do you want to have some ice cream? Do you want to get some coffee? Or, as I sang on the intercom this morning for the art question of the week, “Do you want to draw a snowman?”

Thanks to B’s request for me to sing the above question, I had the song stuck in my head all day. Naturally, after the students left this afternoon, I pulled up the song on YouTube and listened to it. Again. And again. And again. Today was actually the first time I’d ever done this. And I’ve only seen the movie once. Yet I found myself moved by Anna’s persistence in pursuing her sister—just as I did before.

For various reasons, Elsa was truly afraid of hurting those around her; I get that fear. I also get the moment when that fear comes true. It’s horrible. Yet I get this, too: After awhile, when someone like Anna keeps showing up—when someone gives space yet keeps trying—when someone keeps wanting to spend time with you—when someone keeps fighting for you even though you’ve hurt them and hidden from them and openly pushed them away—there comes a point when you must accept the fact that they truly love you…and that’s the moment when love changes everything. That’s the moment when you’re truly able to let it go.

Amelia didn’t explain all of that to me when she said that Anna was her favorite character. She simply said that she liked how Anna showed love to her sister…and then we sang the rest of our conversation. It went something like this: “Do you like your Frozen calendar? Better than the Wizard of Oz? Will you hang it on your wall? And mark the days off as they come?” “Yes I like my Frozen calendar better than the Wizard of Oz. And I’ll hang it on my wall and mark the days off as they come.”

Love changes everything, folks. Love changes everything.