The worst that could happen....

As adults we don't for the most part pay much attention to Halloween. If you have children- there is the racing to the store, for candy- for costumes or if you are my friend Miriam you are sewing until 4 am the night before creating costumes so complex they would make Martha Stewart blanch- or if you are Syd and Henry and family you are doing things to pumpkins that would make the basis for a vegetarian horror movie. But- its a diversion. At this time of life- we see it as a day with maybe a couple of extras in it- egg on your car, toilet paper strewn in the trees, maybe a surreptitious viewing of a hidden "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" DVD when no one else is around (OK, my own personal treat...) But for kids-even beyond Christmas presents and chocolate Easter eggs and only a short second behind birthdays lies the holy grail of childhood. Halloween. Inside every child lurks a true pagan whose greatest desire is to don fantastic attire, cover oneself in paint and glitter and eat candy until swooning is a foregone conclusion.

At 8 years of age I remember planning my Halloween costume. I would be the most gorgeous princess ever. My hair would magically become blonde and fall in long waves to my shoulders. I would be long and lissome in pink satin with a tiara and I would wear glass slippers like Cinderella without a mean stepsister in sight. My dad took me to the local Five and Dime and hanging from the ceiling were the array of Ben Cooper costumes. Superman, Fred Flintstone, Dino... it was 1968. And there it was- pink- silkscreened flounces and had ties that went up the back like a hospital gown. The mask was a painted pink smile and frozen blonde helmet of hair complete with sparkling rhinestone tiara and two holes for eyes to peek out and a little slit at the mouth just narrow enough to slice your tongue on. As I write this- I shudder. How awful! But- the mirror looking back reveals another picture. I remember seeing that costume and believing that in it- I would be the most beautiful princess ever. I remember carrying it home in its day-glo yellow and black box and wearing it over my pajamas to see how it looked. And I loved that costume. Until the day Halloween arrived and it was 35 degrees out. I explained to my dad that princesses did NOT wear their powder blue quilted snow jacket with the fake white fur in the hood over their gown. The effect would be RUINED no one would KNOW I was a princess. And try as I might- I could not imagine my knitted mittens into evening gloves.
Needless to say I, like every kid before me, lost that fight and had to wear the coat (the alternative was not going out at all and letting my sister collect candy FOR me. Wasn't gonna happen I knew my sister always liked chocolate a lot more than she ever liked me- I'd wind up with raisins and Necco wafers.)

So even now- when I talk about Halloween- I mention the coat over the costume scenario to an otherwise mature adult and can see the seven year old in each of them cringe. This morning though- I woke to the unthinkable. My friend Judy called at 7:39 am and said her granddaughter Amani was SICK and could not come out for the Ghouls and Gourds Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. We go every year. We spend the day. It was.... too sad.

I puttered around the house. Made coffee. Pouted.. Considered going on my own. 11 am rolled around and the phone rang again.

A Halloween miracle. Amani had made a miracle recovery (a 24 hour virus cut down to 6 hours by the promise of pumpkins and trick or treat) And she looked like this:




With her was sidekick Ciara.



A train costume from Starlight Express (this is NY, we don't DO Thomas the Tank Engine)




\



There were many Jack Sparrows




This looked like a header into the koi pond for sure


This little guy kept trying to use his hook as a dental pic





Three years ago was the first time I took Amani and her grandmother to the gardens for this festival. A surgery had left Amani unable to walk for almost 18 months. We walked her in a stroller through that festival, that year she was a princess.
This year I watched her running through the gardens with Ciara, so beautiful and tall and straight. And smiled. It's Halloween.
She could be whatever she wanted. And didn't need her coat.