We’Ll Build Another Snowman So Please Return Frosty’S Hat

Wed., Jan. 12, 2000

Helen T. Hanna Special To Opinion

On Tuesday, Jan. 4, my boys and I enjoyed our “snow day” off from school by building a snowman. It wasn’t just any snowman, it was the best snowman we had ever built because we worked together as a family, enjoying the day off and the snow Mother Nature had so generously provided.

We laughed and smiled as we put two faces on our snowman. One face for us to enjoy, less than six feet from our living room window, and the other for our friends and neighbors to enjoy as they passed by.

He was a wonderful snowman, dressed in all the traditional snowman apparel: a carrot nose, coal eyes, a scarf and, of course, a very special black hat. We couldn’t wait for Dad to come home from work to see it. Unfortunately, he never got that opportunity.

As my boys and I were making dinner some very mean-spirited people kicked our snowman down and stole that very special black hat right in front of our living room window. You might wonder why a mother would take the time to write about a broken snowman. The reason is, I want to send a message to those who might consider thoughtless acts of vandalism such as this.

With that act of vandalism, someone left us feeling violated and spoiled something that was built for the enjoyment of others. Whoever did it, it was not your snowman to break and it was not your hat to take. You robbed two children of the opportunity to show their father their pride and excitement in what they had accomplished.

It saddens me to think people find enjoyment in acts of destruction. (Maybe you didn’t build enough snowmen growing up!)

You may have wrecked our snowman and stolen our hat but you cannot spoil the wonderful memories we have and the joy we experienced in building it. I hope the next time you think about kicking down someone’s snowman, you’ll think twice.

By the way, we would appreciate the return of our very special black hat, no questions asked. And, if you choose not to return it, I hope some of Frosty’s spirit will rub off on you and make you a nicer person.

You know where we live and there’s still a lot of winter left for us to build another snowman. You may have crushed our snowman but you didn’t crush our spirit. Happy New Year.

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