Watch 'Frozen' ice princess Elsa bring joy to military children during COVID-19 lockdown
One military spouse with a background in musical theater and a closet full of Disney princess costumes has taken it upon herself to bring joy to her community during the COVID-19 lockdown.
It all started when Air Force spouse Lexi Fontaine, whose husband is based at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, heard a neighbor go outside and do Elsa’s “siren call” for his youngest, 2-year-old, daughter.
“How cool would it be to be able to put some magic in a time like this?” he had asked, as coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders took hold.
Joining in on that simple “siren call” then inspired Fontaine to start driving around her neighborhood singing songs from the beloved children’s movie and giving driveway and street concerts.
The first few nights she just sang as “Lexi,” but in storage Fontaine had multiple costumes from “princess performances” she had given at hospital visits and charity events, so she pulled out her Elsa costume and decided to make a production of it.
“For me it’s just a really fulfilling thing because I think that what we’re all going through right now, it’s so hard even as adults because it’s so uncertain and it’s so dark,” she said in episode 25 of The Spouse Angle. “But for kids I almost would say it’s worse because they really don’t understand the scope of what’s happening.”
“And so being able to add some magic and wonder and imagination back into life right now for them is really important to help them have resilience.”
It's just one of the uplifting stories The Spouse Angle highlighted on "Some Good News": Military Edition.
The “singing Elsa” has brought her community together, Fontaine said, and allowed neighbors to find ways to creatively connect and adapt during the coronavirus pandemic. It also has inspired them to find other fun ways to safely stay together.
“To me, to live in a community where I’m having the opportunity to see so many people giving everything they have to make this time as joyful and positive as it possibly can be, that’s really inspiring to me and I’m just grateful to be a part of that,” she said.