Halloween Memories

Memories...like the corners of my mind (which means they are full of cobwebs and old books LOL) What is the first Halloween you can remember? The most extraordinary? Please share your stories! You can leave them here in the comments, or post them on your own blog and send me a link. If you don’t have a blog, e-mail your story to me and I will add it here. The earliest Halloween that I can recall was age 3 - I was a ghost. We were at my grandmother’s house. She took a white pillowcase and slipped it over me, and marked where my eyeballs and shoulders were, then pulled it off and cut little circles out for me to see through, and holes for me to poke my arms through. I thought I was da bomb - LOL We walked up her street to a few houses, me carrying my costume’s pillowcase mate to collect treats in. I harbored visions of filling it up, as tall as myself, and having enough sweets to gorge on forever. This was in the glory days of Halloween, before poison and razor blade scares, when little old ladies spent days preparing homemade candy, cookies and popcorn balls. Oh the joy of a homemade popcorn ball! The really cool old ladies colored the caramel-marshmallow gooiness that held the glob together with gallons of food dye, so that when I returned home and ate it, getting it all over my hands and face, I became the color of the popcorn ball. I was one of hundreds of happy children who were purple until Thanksgiving. The most extraordinary? Well certainly having Bradley the Brat pee on my costume ranks right up there, but for happy memories I’d have to say about ten years ago. All three kids were still living at home, and I was helping at the PTA Carnival. I sewed pirate costumes for the entire family (such a domestic diva LOL) from yards and yards of red and white striped fabric. Daughter and I wore skirts with jagged zig-zag bottoms, white puffy blouses, red kerchiefs around our necks and lots of gaudy jewelry. All of the males wore red bandanas, white puffy shirts, and pants and vests made from the same material, also cut with zig-zig bottoms. I wore an exotic feathered half-mask and black fishnet stocking (which Papa Pirate really liked, but that’s a whole ‘nuther story LOL) We went to the high school gymnasium and I ran the three-card monty game. Just kidding...I ran several different innocent little carnival games, like the cakewalk, and pick-a-rubber-ducky, win-a-prize. Eldest Son won the coolest prize, (not at my booth) - a Sprite soda pop bottle (that I still have) which had the neck heated and stretched.

There was a moonwalk, 25 cent hot dogs, lots of adults and kids in costumes, and I could abuse my power as a parent volunteer, and give my children tickets to anything they wanted to do - LOL It was one of the best nights of my life (and Papa Pirate’s LOL) So that’s mine. Please! Share your stories!