When I was little, I thought Halloween revolved around me. Goodness, I thought Halloween was created for me as an extension of my special day. Looking at the photographs of my third birthday party, one can see how I came to that conclusion. My birthday is just a few hours shy of Halloween. Between the parties, candy, gifts, cake and costumes, it was a kid’s dream.
Even though the black and white pictures don’t fully showcase the party rainbow, it was all there. The golden afternoon sun, popcorn balls covered in bright cellophane wrappers, Red Delicious apples ready for bobbing, twisted black and orange crepe paper streamers, balloons tied to the clothesline and smiling Jack-O’-Lanterns dotted the landscape. Those colors were vivid and magical.
The magic continued when my Mom brought out apple cider and her homemade witch cake. She had cleverly used two oblong pans to create the most delicious yellow cake then strategically cut them into just the right amount of rectangles, triangles and squares to restructure them into a cute witch face covered with purple and lime green icing and matching colored coconut. My Uncle Rodney ate the witch’s nose.
When I opened my presents, among them was a new Halloween costume that I would live in for the next week. The other gifts were all my favorites: play dough, puzzles, coloring books, crayons and craft supplies. I was sure I now had enough craft supplies to embellish my costume if needed.
After the excitement was over and the guests said good-bye, I went inside and crawled up in my chair. I could now bask in the glow and prepare for the next 24 hours of fun. I kicked back in my acetate Yogi Bear costume while consuming another piece of cake. My paper bag ready to be filled with candy was secure in my lap as I watched Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon. The kicker was the name of Casper’s best friend-Wendy, the Witch.
Maybe it really was all about me.
Smiles,
Wendy