Tale as Old as Time

Directly across from my bed is a tall wooden wardrobe, the lyrics of a Regina Spektor song whose promise plays on repeat in my heart affixed to the side. Framing those lyrics are several 4"x6" photos. They are the first thing I see every morning, which is nice-- it guarantees I'll start the day with a smile.

Photos are a precious reminder of the 22 little souls who are, for now, growing up without me.  They come in handy when I begin to wonder if it was all a dream, but they are a poor substitution for reality.

A slightly better supplement is video.  I didn't take any myself, but a couple of other volunteers have steadily begun posting their videos on cyberspace. With Sarah's permission, I would love to share one of hers and the story behind it.

The kids watched "Beauty and the Beast" for the first time this summer, and it blew their little minds.  They only had time to watch half of it on the first day, and we stopped the movie at the part where the Beast is trying to save Belle from the wolves.  The kids' reaction was pretty unanimous: the Beast was bad, the movie was scary, and the wolves were winning.  None of them mentioned Gaston at all; he was neither threatening nor important.  They immediately dichotomized the characters, labeling them as either good or evil.  Chola kept saying, "Auntie Meghan, it is not over yet?" as though to assure himself that the story wouldn't end with wolves.

Scheduling prevented me from watching the second half of the film with the kids, but they had no reservations about watching it again.  This video is a combination of clips from the second time through.  If you watch their faces closely, you can see the journey of misunderstanding, judgement, and redemption that this movie took them on. 

My favorite part is Jennifer's sheer delight at the end. You can almost see her eyes shining out the message, "Yes! This is how it's supposed to be." Later, Johnny told me that Belle was right to be Beast's friend even though he was mean.  

"Auntie Meghan, Beauty's love saved the Beast. Beauty knew what he could be."

Truer words were never spoken. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me..."

When Gaston attacked the Beast, there was a general outcry of fear and confusion from the kids. "Why is the Beast not eating the man?!" Again, Johnny in his infinite wisdom answered the question. "He knows Love now.  When you forgive then you don't fight back." (I'm so proud... He's been listening!) Those are big word from a little boy whose daily challenge in self control is trying not to physically pounce on whichever kid intentionally broke his tent on the playground this time.

The movie left when the volunteers did, but I fully intend to bring a copy for the kids next year.  In so many ways that are so far beyond the understanding of those kindergarteners (and this college kid), this story truly is a Tale as Old as Time.  I really enjoyed talking through it with them in the next few days.  They learned that sometimes first impressions are wrong: Beast had a heart, and Gaston was more of a threat than they initially thought. They saw that different and scary are not equivalent to irredeemable or unlovable (an important message to remember as they learn more about life outside the chainlink fence of their playground). And maybe, just maybe, they found a little bit of Beauty and a little bit of Beast hiding within themselves.

I know I did.