Monsters, Inc. and A Love Story

For Easter, I bought all five of my grandchildren a stuffed animal, but not the usual stuffed bunny or chick. Nope this year they will all get a Monsters, Inc. plush toy named George Sanderson.

George is a scarer on Scarefloor F at Monsters, Inc.  He is a furry monster with a horn on top of his head.  George is also very good friends with Mike, Sulley, and Claws Ward.

It is rumored that George Sanderson will be in Disney's soon to be released movie, Monsters University, the sequel of Monsters, Inc.

One, two, three, four, five plush Disney, George Sanderson's, and the framed photo, well that is my George Sanderson.

I met George in November of 1972.  He wore pointed toed shoes, wore straight legged jeans, listened to Elvis, and had just returned home from his tour of duty in Vietnam.  I wore hippy beads and bell bottom pants, listened to Motown, and was totally against the Vietnam War.

We met through mutual friends, our first meeting was at a bowling alley, I dislike bowling, but the other three people enjoyed it, so we all bowled a couple of games. 

During the evening, we were at odds on almost every subject, except I loved Sonny and Cher and he agreed that they were alright.

I thought I would never see him again, but he was a persistent young man, and I found myself going out with him the following week.

He was from a small town in southern Illinois, a Lutheran, from a divorced home, had seven brothers and sisters, and was soft spoken. I, on the other hand, came from a Chicago suburb, was a Catholic, had a loving family unit, one  brother and one sister and was often loud and opinionated.

I got to know George much better and within a month I knew George was the man I would marry. You know they say opposites attract, and in our case it was the truth.

Four months later, on March 30, 1973, George and I went to the court house and got married. Later on May 5, 1973 our marriage was blessed in the Catholic church, which made my family happy.

This photo was taken soon after we were married. I was twenty two, and George was twenty five when we said our I do's. During the short civil service, we exchanged simple gold bands, with a promise of a diamond in the future. 

George worked for American Motors as an electrician, but during the 1970's and into the 1980's the industry wasn't selling many cars. With the lack of car sales, the factory workers often found themselves laid off with unemployment compensation as income.

We had our first child almost two years later, and two and a half years later came number two, and 18 months later came number three. We certainly weren't rich, but we were happy, most of the time.

Fast forward to our 25th wedding anniversary, March 30, 1998. George left for work, and I was getting ready to leave for the elementary school that I worked at, when I found the card.

I opened the card, and I found this note inside.

I was getting my diamond ring from the man that I loved for twenty five years. Tears filled my eyes, and joy filled my heart.

My friends were thrilled at the prospect of me finally getting a diamond ring, so we all went shopping. So many different cuts of diamonds and so many setting styles. I liked several but didn't love them. 

When I came home from looking at diamonds, George asked if I found something I wanted. During our marriage, I might have mentioned a few hundred times that I didn't have a diamond ring, and now with the diamond ring within my reach, I realized that I didn't need or want a diamond ring. The offer to buy me one was enough. 

George leased me a fully load Jeep Grand Cherokee instead of the diamond ring, and I was a happy girl.

Eight months after our twenty fifth wedding anniversary, my George Sanderson was killed while riding his motorcycle.

March 30, 2013 would have been our 40th wedding anniversary, and with Easter the next day I thought it would be fun to have five Disney plush George Sanderson's being hugged and loved by all of the grandchildren. As for my George Sanderson he will be with us in spirit, and he will always be in my heart.

This is my love story.