Years ago I taught at a small independent school in Baltimore that celebrated Halloween with the full Halloween Parade tradition. Parents and friends were invited. The playground was packed with groups of costumed children, harried classroom teachers, and doting adults with cameras.
Over the many years I worked there, three costumes stood out.
1. The first was a boy in the second grade whose homemade costume charmed me. He was a chef, with all the appropriate clothing. But the pièce de resistance was a pot he carried that appeared to be boiling and emitting steam. It was all done with cotton balls or cotton batting.
It was not a fancy costume and I don’t think it cost a lot to create. It was perfect in every way and this kid was rocking it. It just made me happy to see him enjoying himself.
2. Then there was the year my own kid wanted to be Xena Warrior Princess. She fully believed I could make that costume. I fully believed I was incapable of pulling it off. We are talking limited time, limited funds, limited tools, and limited ability.
Somehow I did it. It may have been my crowning achievement in life. It was definitely an example of how faith and/or courage require doing the impossible thing while reckoning with your own flaws and limitations.
3. One year I actually went all out on myself: tricking out a long dress I already had to create a Renn Fest princess-esque costume. This involved figuring out how to give it a lace-up bodice sort of thing by means of buying and using a special Grommet Tool. I distinctly remember needing to go outside and hammer the darn grommets on the sidewalk in front of our apartment building.
I had a vision. I was determined. This costume was going to be appropriate for the school Halloween Parade and maybe, just maybe, attractive enough to wear elsewhere. My memory is a little fuzzy here but I think this costume may have caught the eye of the cute fellow who I’d met in the church choir associated with the school.
You know what they say: reader, I married him.
May your day be full of treats - - both giving and receiving.
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