How I Found My First Love (and how he found me again)

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If you had a childhood, you know Rankin Bass. They're the production company who made all those stop-motion Christmas specials; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, all that fun stuff. I'm not gonna lie, those movies are cheesy as all get out. But when you were a kid, you didn't care. You loved seeing those characters, watching their adventures unfold, and singing along to all those cute little songs. Even I can't resist humming There's Always Tomorrow every now and again. Ah, Clarice, you have such a lovely voice... But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about my favorite Rankin Bass film from when I was little: Jack Frost. I was nine years old, and it was close to Christmas. I saw a commercial stating that Jack Frost was going to be on TV soon. I was intrigued. I had heard of Jack Frost before, but I had never imagined that he would be so... cute! Naturally I watched it, from beginning to end. My little nine-year-old heart went out to Jack. His story was beautifully tragic, but I loved every second of it. I wanted nothing more than to reach through the TV screen and give him a big, warm hug. And what's more, he was responsible for the winter that I loved so much! I knew right then that I was in love. The next morning, I ran outside and played in the snow all day. I built snowmen and snow forts, and made snowballs by the dozen. And since I didn't have any other kids to play with, I threw them at the trees and the side of the house, and the aforementioned snowmen. But they didn't mind. They liked being hit with snowballs because the snow stuck to them and made them bigger. They didn't even complain when I broke their arms off, as long as I gave them new ones. I even tried to build an igloo, but it kinda fell apart. And throughout the day, I swore I could feel Jack's presence. He was there, watching from a distance, happy that someone was enjoying his work. Early in the evening, before going inside, I took a stick and drew a smiley face inside of a heart, along with the words “Thank you, Jack.” Years came and went, and eventually Jack Frost was forgotten. But I never outgrew my love for the winter, and every year when the snow fell, I made a point to go outside and play in it. Fast forward to 2012. As we all know, Rise of the Guardians came out. When I first saw the posters online, I thought “Hey, cool, they're reinventing all the mythical characters kids believe in.” Then I got to Jack's poster, and I thought “...Dude.” My heart skipped a beat. Indeed, Jack Frost was one of the mythical characters being reinvented for the movie. Not only that, he was... cute! Yes, it was mostly because of Jack that I wanted to see the movie, and when my good aunt took me and my mother to the theater a week before my twentieth birthday, I can say without a doubt that it was the happiest day of the year for me. The movie itself was amazing, and my heart went out to Jack. His story was beautifully tragic, but I loved every second of it. I wanted nothing more than to reach through the— Whoa, wait. Hold the phone. Didn't this already happen? Suddenly I remembered. The Rankin Bass movie, Jack Frost, everything about him I loved all those years ago. And I realized, those things were still just as prevalent in this Jack, who I now love as an adult. Each Jack has two sides to him; the mischievous winter sprite who is always causing trouble, and the lonely spirit who only wants to be seen. Jack Frost has changed, and yet stayed very much the same. And you know what? So have I.