Animated Daniel or Toy Story 3 ?

Periodically I make a trip on the weekend to Sam's Club, in the city, about an hour and a half from here. With the price of fuel it is usually lumped with a number of other short trips at the same time. I bought the items I needed at Sam's and as I headed to the checkout I pushed the cart through the DVD section. I looked over and spied the new Toy Story 3 DVD. I grasped it thinking how much Daniel would enjoy it, and then I thought that it was not rational to continue to buy things for him. At that point,I imagined him saying, "Get it. YOU'LL ENJOY IT. I'll watch it with you." I gingerly put it in the cart,while feeling silly.
That evening, the family and I watched it, and it was indeed as if Daniel wanted us to. Daniel would have enjoyed this particular storyline very much, and many of the jokes. Daniel also had all of the toys from the Toy Story series. In Toy Story 3, Andy, the child to whom all the toys belong,has grown to 18, and is leaving for college, and must make some decisions as to whether to donate his beloved toys or not. As some of you know, Daniel,although he was 12 1/2 at his passing was evaluating and visiting colleges, and could have attended one fairly soon. The main character in Toy Story 3, Andy, looked a great deal as Daniel looked before his passing. In addition, to Daniel a really gifted animator in his own right, the Toy Story series was important to him as a future student of kinetic imaging, which was one of his considered majors in college . Seeing a young man who closely resembled him as an animated being was especially touching. I watched the feature, and tears fell down my face for so many reasons. Perhaps Daniel did watch this with us. Perhaps simply the memory of Daniel loving Toy Story 1 and 2 so much was a potent reminder. It certainly felt as if he set it up, and was there. Incidentally, all of Daniel's toys and computers, remain in his room, where we all visit, watch his DVDs, play with his computer, lie on his bed, and talk to him.



"Toy Story 3" and photos of same are material owned by Pixar Inc.