(written through Betsy’s
POV)
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| Tough guy, Henry |
How my mom took five children trick
or treating and kept track of us all – in the dark, running from house to
house, high on sugar and adrenaline- amazes me to this day.
My mom would usually stay on the
street and let us go up to the houses on our own. I can still hear her voice, orchestrating our
every move. “Three houses. After you get to the house with the red door,
you come straight back and check in…” We
all take off…
“Adam! WALK, Do. Not. Run.” Her command conjures imaginary strings that pull at the 10 year old
boy and he comes to a fast halt followed by a slow, struggled walk – similar to a
dog on leash that is desperate to take off again.
“.... And say thank you!”
The streets, crowded with kids and
adults, but it was always easy to find
mom – She was infamous for adorning tacky Halloween attire. Her trademark was the flashing pumpkins head
band. The small bright orange pumpkins,
blinking in turn, contrasting with the blackness of the sky, and affixed to the
headband by 4 inch antennas – giving the illusion that they were “floating”
above her head was always easy to spot.
One particular Halloween – we were all toddlers to elementary school- it
was exceptionally cold and snowy.
My parents were considering not
letting us trick or treat at all that year.
I cant even begin to imagine dealing with 5 small children after telling
them they cant go trick or treating.
Apparently, my mom could not
either.
So she ordered us all to go put on
our snow suits, boots, gloves, hats, and scarves. Meanwhile she went into the kitchen and met
us back in the living room, holding 5 white garbage bags. One for each child. She painted 5 faces white and out the door we
went (Dad stayed behind and gave out candy).
A family of ghosts was born!
Mary Margaret saves the day again!
…
That was circa 1990...ish.
Twenty three years later, we are
all grown up now. Megan, Adam and
Christina all took their 2 and 3 year olds out trick or treating this year.
I Facetimed with Tina right before
she took Emma and Lily out.
Emma (3 yrs old) was Bell from
Beauty and the Beast and Lily (2 yrs old) was Izzy from Jack and the Pirates.
Even though they live in Arizona; Flagstaff,
AZ is in the mountains and it’s already freezing there at night. So both children were required to also wear turtle
necks and long johns under their costume.
Tina was a bumble bee. She backs away from the camera so I can see her
whole outfit. She is wearing antennas
with little yellow pom poms balls on the end.
My mind instantly flashes back to 20 years ago and her yellow pom poms
are suddenly orange pumpkins.
I smile to myself. Tina reminds me
so much of Mom sometimes. All of my
siblings do.
“Ok, we gotta go. Emmagene and Lily – say goodbye to Aunt
Betsy.”
“Bye Aunt Betsy!!!”
Tina: “Say I love you”
“Love you!” They squeak in their high pitched toddler
voices as they rush to the door. They
are soooo excited, I can’t help but grin from ear to ear. Christina ends the call and my screen goes
blank.
It's the little things in life that
make you laugh, smile and cry - sometimes all at once.
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| Adam and Elly's son - Henry - 23 months - The Construction worker! |
 |
| Cookie Monster is all smiles this year! ...Megan and Chris's 2 yr old, Josh |
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| Christina and Roth's girls - Lily and Emmagene (2 and 3) - aka "Izzy "and "Bell" |
And finally.....our newest family member....
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| Margaret Flanagan Hall ("Finn")- Born 10/22/2013 and named after my mom and Nanny: (Mom- Mary Margaret Hall; Nanny: Margaret Mary Flanagan). Adam and Elly's little one slept through Halloween this year :) |
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