TRICK OR TREAT!

Hmmmmm...Why do I love Halloween so much?  Goes back to my childhood when I seemed to always be sick at the end of October.  My costume would always be ready, lovingly sewn together by my mother and the excitement was unbearable waiting for the 31st.  All the neighborhood kids and me would have planned for weeks what we were going to be.  It never failed when it finally got here I would be in bed under a croup tent with either pneumonia or bronchitis.  Old Dr. Peede taught my daddy well and he'd have that smelly old croup tent covering my bed at my first labored October breath.

All hopes of collecting candy with my friends would be dashed.  Trying to cheer me up my mother would always bring them in to see me when they came Trick or Treating at our house.  She never understood how devastated I was to see them lined up at the foot of my bed in their costumes....smiling at me with candy drool in the corners of their mouth.  Oh, how I wanted to be out with them...and my costume  would just sit in mother's sewing room.

But don't feel sorry for me...Almost every summer my hero, next door neighbor Jerry Meeks, would get bored and set a plan.  We'd dig out our Halloween costumes and in the heat of June, July or August I'd follow him all over the neighborhood Trick or Treating.  I don't remember a single household that didn't drop SOMETHING in my paper bag!  It wasn't always candy...sometimes a muffin, sometimes a dime...but always something.  Gawd how I worshipped Jerry!  My mother never knew until I was grown about our mid-summer Halloween jaunts.

Needless to say...by the time I was a  older ( and I had "outgrown" my chest problems just like Ol' Dr. Peede told my mama I would) dressing up and giving out the candy was always a treat for me.  Then to have children of my own...I finally got to do Halloween like I had always yearned for in MY childhood.  Oh how much fun I had getting my boy's costumes picked out and made.  Taking after my mother, I'd get the sewing machine out and whip up clown costumes, dracula capes, genie britches & turbans, bats and goblins.....I only remember two of their costumes that were store bought.  One year my youngest son was hell bent and determined to be a fireman...Mom couldn't sew that one up for him.  Another year my oldest really, really wanted a store bought costume of some wrestler...can't remember the name...but we got it.  I sure hope my boys, now men, remember the fun we had Trick or Treating when they were little.  I sure do!

Now I have a granddaughter and always look forward to what she's gonna dress up for come Halloween.  Last year she was Supergirl...Meemall (this is how she spells Meema, so Meemall it is)  can't wait to see her costume for this year!

Now, Hallow's Eve is here...and my porch is decorated and waiting for the neighborhood ghosts and goblins.  There's plenty of candy in the hall and I'M READY!  Bring it on.  No tricks for me....all treats.  I might even ask Myrtle to help me give the candy out..Here's a photo of my friend Myrtle:

Naaaaaahhhhhhh...Maybe Myrtle WON'T help me...She might be a little too rough around the edges and scare some o' th' lil' chilluns!

Keep memories of childhood in your heart.  Turn your porch lights ON!  They're comin' and what YOU do might make a lasting impression on some of those Trick or Treaters!  And my tip for the day is...ALWAYS BUY YOUR FAVORITE BRAND OF CANDY..That way you get to eat what's left over!  I'll leave you folks with my Halloween treat to all:



HAVE A SAFE AND FUNFILLED HALLOWEEN! - KRISTYEMAC