Toy

When I was but a wee lad living in New York, I was given a toy car for Christmas. It was a little convertible with Mickey Mouse sitting inside. I started playing with it immediately, ignoring the still-unopened presents that remained under the tree. It was my favorite gift that year, and one of my only memories from so long ago. I played with it incessantly.

But alas, over the weeks and months my little car became battered and dirty, and I don't even remember what happened to it in the end. It vanished. Poof! Perhaps it fell victim to a garage sale, or was merely left behind when we moved to AZ. I had other things on my mind by then and I didn't think much of it. But there was always the fond memory: i never forgot the yellow convertible with the removable Mickey.

Over a decade later, I brought the topic up to my mum. She remembered it too, of course: it had been a bit of a running joke in the family. Then the next month - December - I came out of my room on Christmas morning to find a replica of the toy tucked into my stocking. It wasn't exactly the same: it was red instead of yellow, and Mickey was attached to the car instead of removable. It was also bigger than the original car, though not by much. I was a teenager by this time, and far too old to play with such things. That didn't matter though. I was totally blown away that mum had found something so similar to my old toy. It wasn't something i could have "fun" with, but it found that sentimental portion of my heart, and I was very thankful for it.

It's been years since then. Eventually I landed a temporary job at Disney World in Florida. I was a nobody, of course: grunt work. But it was a great experience, and since then I've watched more Disney cartoons than any straight American male has a right to. I don't care. Walt and his characters mean as much to me as they do to all the kids who watch the shows. And from the very beginning, from the first cartoon ever to combine motion with sound, Mickey Mouse has been a constant. A symbol of the Magic.

Today I pulled that car out of my dresser: I still have it. I dusted it off and put it on a shelf, near my other Disney memorabilia. It always reminds me of the old, original car that I felt so connected to. And then it reminds me of the Disney I worked for, and the Disney of today. A lot is different, but behind it all, Walt's dream is alive and kicking. Thank God, some things never change.