Each year when I put our Frosty the Snowman in my front yard for Christmas, I always remember a nightmare I had as a young boy. It was very traumatic and I remember that bad dream like it was yesterday. Do you remember dreams you have had from many years ago? For some reason I remember this one and getting Frosty out of the garage each year triggers it.

There is a good side of this story and a bad side. The good side of the story is Frosty the Snowman means a lot to me because I’m reminded of my loving relationship I had with my grandmother. My Grandma Dorothy lived in Waseca Minnesota for many years before moving to Madison after Grandpa died to be closer to family. One of Grandma’s favorite Christmas decorations was a snowman she placed in her front yard each year. I always looked forward to seeing that snowman as a young boy. Grandma had this plastic snowman for many years, and when she moved to Madison from Waseca she brought the old tattered snowman with her. The snowman had seen many years of wear and tear and grandma had started using duct tape to keep him together. Grandma knew how much I loved that old snowman and she told me many times that when she died she wanted me to have her snowman and to keep the tradition alive. I have done that. My mom knew how much I loved my grandma’s Frosty, but since he’d seen better days, she bought me one for my birthday one year that looked just like Grandma’s. He sits proudly outside my house each year in memory of my Grandma Dorothy.

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The bad side of the story is I also remember the nightmare I had as a young boy when I see Frosty. My bad dream had Casper the Friendly Ghost and Frosty the Snowman in it! Don’t ask why Casper and Frosty are together. To make a long dream short, I’ll give you the short version. In Waseca, Grandma lived right along Highway 14 as you came into Waseca, she also lived on Loon Lake. Her house was two stories and my nightmare had Casper and Frosty chasing me on the roof of Grandma’s house. Frosty was on a motorcycle and Casper was flying around trying to catch me. They were not nice and they looked scary. They kept chasing me around the house and up on the roof. It was very scary. I think I was 10 years old and remember waking up crying. I never looked at Casper the Friendly Ghost the same after that. The only reason I like Frosty is because of Grandma.

Saturday I went into the garage to take Frosty out of storage and set him in my front yard for Christmas. When I first saw him and that creepy smile he has on his face I jumped and froze just for a second remembering my nightmare. After I got him set up and saw him lit up in the dark and how nice he looked in my yard, I forgot the nightmare and remembered my Grandma Dorothy and think how proud she must be of me that I am still putting my Frosty out at Christmas and did not have to go to therapy because of my nightmare.