Great-Grandpa

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I suppose you could say any number of those events was a type of death ... but the death of Great-Grandpa was the first time being aware that a human being who had been in my life would no longer be there.
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Halloween Fun, down the Generations

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My best Halloween costume was the one I wore as a Pilgrim, that my mother had sewed.  It was big enough for me to wear in the Thanksgiving presentation that my nursery school gave for Thanksgiving and for several years afterword.  I loved the candy we got and the occasional homemade cupcakes.  There was one family near us that had a slanted wood walk-up into the house so that the owner could used his wheelchair to get in and out.  His treats were often the best we got, and we often finished them off before we walked back home.

Sometimes I collected donations for UNICEF, for feeding hungry children in poorer countries.  We were supposed to ask for donations instead of candy, but usually people would graciously give us both.

My favorite Halloween Costumes, however were the ones I made with my children.   We used to read Bunnicula around the time that Halloween was coming up. ( a vegetable sucking vampire rabbit) That inspired Zac’s costume as a rabbit, which he wore to the parade his kindergarten school.  I used a powder puff to make the rabbit’s tail.  All seemed well until Zac came home and told me that I had left a pin in it.   For several years he was robot which we made with decorated and self designed Grocery Bags, at a time when paper bags were the norm.  After that we moved to St. Cloud Minnesota, and Zac dressed as a tax collector in as Suit like clothes as possible and with the use of his dads very capacious briefcase.   Unfortunately many Minnesotans did not appreciate his sense of humor and refused to give him anything, even though he wore a tie.  The next year one of his Minnesotan friends borrowed his rabbit costume minus the pin problem.

Although I don’t remember exactly what I made with the other two children, I am pretty sure that Jennifer would have been a princess and Dustin, who was fascinated with weapons at a very young age would be something like a warrior with his nerf toys in hand.  (Dustin was an ironic child for me and I worried quite a bit that he really would become a warrior, but thankfully he is a wonderful adult using his many skills peacefully.)

We had beautiful youngsters and their parents coming by today, and there are few things I enjoy more than giving out candy to the trick or treaters(and to myself afterwards). Happy Halloween!!!