To Infinity...

About a week ago, I saw a flyer advertising that a local restaurant and bar in town was going to be showing “Toy Story” on a big screen.  They show a movie every Friday, for free, and I had been curious about it, but now we would have to go.  I showed the flyer to Christian and Tessie, and they both exclaimed that they wanted to go.  As the day drew nearer Tessie became more, and more excited.  And today it was all she could talk about.  Christian, who hadn’t been as obsessed, started to get into it as well, and by the time I picked them up from school, they could barely contain themselves.

We loaded them up in the car and started towards the restaurant, all the while Christian held tight to his Buzz Lightyear action figure.  He kept repeating over and over, “I’m so excited!  We’re gonna see Toy Story!”  You would think it was their first time seeing it, instead of their hundredth. 

I had promised some friends at a restaurant nearby, that I would meet them for a drink, so Nick took the kids in, and I joined them after the movie had started.  I ordered my food, then made my way through the dark movie room, to where Nick and the kids were sitting.  Tessie had a friend with her, and she gave me a smile when I sat down, but that was the only acknowledgment I got.  I sat next to Christian, who was in his booster chair eating a hamburger.  He looked up at me, and gave me his “I’m so happy to see you” smile, but instead of asking to sit in my lap, he pointed to the screen and said “Buzz mama!  Buzz!” 

For the rest of the movie, he clapped and laughed, pointed and called out “Buzz, where are you?” when Buzz went missing.  He had a blast.  When it ended and the lights came on, he clapped and turned to me, joy plastered across his face.  “That was a good movie mama, lets watch it again!”

He fell asleep in the car on the way home, but woke up as I carried him in to his room.  I took off his clothes and put him in his favorite jammies, which are Buzz Lightyear jammies, of course.  I tucked him in and asked him which song he wanted me to sing.  Big surprise, he asked for the Toy Story song.  So I started to sing “You’ve got a friend in me...”  He closed his eyes, still smiling.  What a beautiful night.