Happy Halloween!

In honor of Halloween, I thought I would share my most memorable and most embarrassing Halloween costumes. Alas, my mom has all the pictures, so you will have to just use your imaginations.

My all time favorite costume would have to be my witch costume. It was nothing special--just the black gown and pointed black hat. My younger sister had one too. We were witches two years in a row because we loved the costumes so much. Not only that, but we dug them out of the closet in the summer and put them on so we could play “witches” in the backyard. This make believe scenario mostly just involved us putting creek water in a bucket, tossing in whatever we found in the backyard (grass, leaves, berries, you name it), stirring it with a stick, and giggling. Good times. I seriously wonder what our neighbors thought of us.

My worst Halloween experience was in 7^th grade. Up until this point, most students wore costumes to school for Halloween. I remember feeling badly for the one girl who had not worn a costume the year before (how could she forget Halloween?).

This particular year, as if by common consent, most students were in ordinary clothes.

Well, I didn’t get that memo. I felt very out of place. I went to school as a bum, entirely because I had just read Judy Blume’s Blubber, and that’s what all the “cool” kids wore to school for Halloween in the book. Yes. That’s right. Everyone else is busy succumbing to peer pressure and trying drugs and alcohol and who knows what else, whereas I am completely oblivious to all of this, and instead succumb to literary pressure. Now stop laughing. I’m still a little embarrassed.

I remember debating on whether it would look worse for me to duck in a bathroom and change into my gym sweats or stick it out in the old flannel shirt of my dad’s and other odd assortment of old clothes. I stuck it out, if for no other reason than to avoid people asking me why I had changed clothes. Looking back, this part seems amusing: my gym sweats were bright turquoise and purple. I’m not sure which outfit is worse.

Despite the trauma of my 7^th grade year, I miss celebrating Halloween. I remember loving the feeling of great possibility and magic when I went out at night with an empty bag and a magic wand or cape or ruby shoes. Terror and amazement awaited me, and I was never disappointed. My neighbors always went all out with decorations, intricate jack-o-lanterns, and scary surprises. The candy was always generous, too. Halloweens past also involve some of my favorite memories with my dad--he always took my sister and me trick-or-treating, and was as big a kid as we were. He even brought his own bag. He also always took a cut of our candy--usually everything with peanuts.

I look forward to someday living in a neighborhood with kids so I can once again participate in this seasonal rite of passage. Plus, you know, I never got to sacrifice cats or drink goats blood. And that’s what this holiday is REALLY all about, right? ;-)