Halloween Express

  Fall has arrived and that means caramel apples, sweater weather and the greatest joy of all.. the arrival of the Halloween Express Costume Catalog!  It ranks right up there with the Sears Christmas catalog and brings sheer joy to my family.  I have always been drawn to the Power Ranger costumes for my son and the cute witch costumes for my daughter.  Unfortunately, they have long since outgrown such, but I can still see them dressed in their festive costumes.  

  For nineteen years, I have found great enjoyment dressing my kids as Flintstones characters, superheroes, zombies, and more. For those same nineteen years, I have tried in vain to dress as a sexy pirate.  I'm never quite successful with this look as somewhere during the process of getting children dressed, dying their hair blue, mining in the attic for plastic swords and plastic pumpkins,  donning outerwear that is reflective, trying to get the blue off of my fingers, and chasing down the dog who is chasing down the neighborhood children, I find myself exhausted and feeling nothing like Anne Bonny or any other sexy pirate.  But I cling to the dream and each year the Costume Catalog shows me glimpses of what I can be one day. 

  My husband, who has no concern for costume selection, has faithfully donned the same Mexican serape for years.  Wrapped in his blanket shirt and armed with a bowl of candy, he sits on the patio watching the kids come and go.  One year, upon a whim, I opted for the King and Queen outfits, thinking we might ditch the serape.   The royal wear was on sale and my dreams of sexy pirate were put on the back burner.   While it was good to be queen, the headwear paled in comparison to a feathery hat that secretly called my name.  

  My daughter wanted to be a rock and roll cat but changed her mind after the outfit arrived and she discovered everyone else was wearing wings that year.  I couldn't fault her for this change of decision, as who doesn't want to wear wings.  I was jealous that I didn't have some and realized that wings just make everything better.  She wore them for weeks after Halloween and I never asked why.  The answer was clear.   They made her happy.  

  While my kids no longer want costumes, their mother still does.  My heart skips a beat just knowing the opportunity is there once again to dress up as something I may never be.  There is excitement in the possibility and whether that be with wings or with a ship under my command the dream is always with me.