Toy Story

              I never thought I would miss being a child the way I miss it today.  Yes, I am very happy for meeting many people whom I’ve grown to love but I wouldn’t mind reliving the joyous events I experienced as a child even if it was just for one minute, a minute where I didn’t have to worry about studying, work, loans…anything that worries me today.   I would be able to stay up all night playing video games with my older brother, teach my baby brother to take his first steps and play dolls the way I’d imagine every girl’s life should be like.  I would have never met Depression and disastrous world issues wouldn’t affect me my perfect Barbie world.

            “Oh my God, I’m gonna watch Toy Story where the toys talk and move!” I thought to myself.  I was six-years-old and like everyone else in my first grade class I had never seen anything like it.  “Was it a cartoon or robots?”  I continued wondering what kind of movie it was and how the creators made it look so “real”.  Andy was the young boy who owned Woody and Buzz Lightyear (his favorite toys).  I thought of myself to be just like him.  He moved to a new house, I moved to a new house, he has a lot of toys, I have a lot of toys, he has a young baby sibling and I have a baby brother.  We have so much in common!  I continued to compare myself to Andy and how we had the same age and how our imagination seemed to relate to one another.

Fourteen years later…

            “Wow, Toy Story 3. This is gonna be awesome!” I told my brother as we began to walk into the cinema.  The movie is about growing up and how Andy has to leave for college.  He is packing all his old stuff including his toys except for Woody (his number one toy) who he wants to take to college.  Andy eventually decides to give Woody up to a little girl who grew fond of the toy.  Before Andy sets off into the sunset he looks over all the toys he has given the little girl and whispers, “Thanks guy.”  I’m already in tears after he hands Woody over and I begin to cry even more after Woody says, “So long, partner” and Andy begins to drive away.  My younger brother looked at me and asked, “Dude. Why are you crying?” I couldn’t stop myself from crying and felt I couldn’t completely explain to him my feelings.  He didn’t grow up alongside Andy.  He didn’t watch the first movie where Andy was my age and he didn’t understand what heading off to college meant.  He didn’t understand that I was Andy. 

Though it was nice to see all those animated toys again I was devastated in the end because I felt as though it symbolized the end of my childhood even though I was already in my 20s.  I guess it brought me to tears because I felt as though I was Andy heading off into adulthood.   Even though my childhood has long been over I never quite accepted adulthood until Andy drove away.  

 Diana