TOY STORY 3-- Andy's Going To College (Too Close To Home)

We made it to the theater yesterday to finally see TOY STORY 3 (it's only been out in the theater for two weeks) and I must say that I knew going in it was going to be an emotional ride.

TOY STORY came out in 1995, just after the birth of our second child, and the sequel came out in 1999 just after the birth of our last child. You see that Toy Story has been part of our journey in raising our children for all of these years and like Andy, we'll say goodbye to our oldest next year as she graduates.

Sitting there as they reflected over Andy's short years of playing with his toys certainly took me back to the years of the living room filled with all sorts of plastic things to step on and to avoid, a yard filled with buckets and pails full of sand and enough stuffed animals garnered at carnivals and Christmas' to fill a truck.

All of those are gone now and Andy's recognition that he has outgrown all of these items made me realize that time has passed by so quickly and I didn't think it had done so. Caught up in the mundane of everyday life I didn't realize how fast they had grown  (Daniel has now surpassed me in height and almost to my weight) and how quickly they will be gone.

At the end of the movie Mattie, our middle child, looked over and saw a tear streaking down my face.  She began to giggle but just then Diane reached over and grabbed my hand.  I didn't care--TOY STORY was hitting too close to home.  That's the magic of Toy story--it's the STORY of our lives and that it why it will forever be a movie classic that will speak to all generations.

Congratulations Disney on a fine film to capture the days of our lives.