Skip to main content

Day 15: Favorite Halloween Costume of Mine



For the 15th day of the Blogember challenge to blog each day during the month of November, today's topic is my favorite halloween costume.

Hmmmm …..

Halloween was not a beloved holiday in my childhood home.  I don't have many memories of costumes or parties.  I recall pictures of one of my first Halloweens, perhaps I was two, where I was Peter Potumus (the hippo).  But after that I don't find photos or recall memories.

I recall the summer when I was 21, during college when I was in a figuring out my life phase.  And of course that what I should have been doing at that age.  Yet, I expected to have figured things out by then.  Boy, I wish I knew then what I know now, huh?

I had spent the spring and summer dating a guy with a big family and a kind heart.  My family liked him, his circle of friends had accepted me and it seemed to be going well.  That was until it stopped going well.  At the end of the summer.  I don't really know what I was expecting, but whatever it was became out of reach.  He became distant and distracted.  At that age I panicked and tried to keep him even closer.  I don't recall a dramatic ending, but I do remember it being over and how broken-hearted I felt.

By Halloween that year friends invited me to a costume party and I decided to go.  I dressed as a cowgirl with jeans, boots, bandana and borrowed a play holster with toy guns.  It was fun to pretend I was brave and strong.

I ran into this guy there and we began to date again … and it seemed like the costume was the trick to convincing myself I was worthy and strong.  It didn't make it until Christmas.  And then it was over again - for good.

His birthday was last month and we exchanged emails.  We have stayed in touch for over 20 years.  He's married with one in college, and one in high school.  I consider him an old and dear friend, with whom I share memories and lessons learned.  And part of that story is the favorite halloween costume of mine!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to get out of an EPIC funk!

This morning I woke to a funk.  Yes, mine.  Reasons to me were relatively clear.  Relationships in my life that are not working.  Lingering fear.  Dissatisfaction in my primary relationship.  To be honest seems like the same stuff that's been hanging on for the last six months. Today felt heavy.  Too heavy for a holiday. How do I push through it?  Cause it seems that I'm unable to go around it. Again. A holiday means every one is home with me.  So solitude is not really the answer.  But writing is. So how did I get out of an epic funk this morning.  I got honest with myself.  And I cried.  Cause feelings hurt.  And people disappoint.  Yet somehow, someway life moves on. I got honest with myself by writing about it.  Detailing what was troubling me into this place and what I saw as the way out.  I gave myself permission to be honest.  Even though it wasn't simple or fascinating.  ...

Day 19: My first job

Memories of my childhood bakery with a cannoli …. As this roller coaster ride of emotions and outpouring continues on Day 19 challenge to blog each day in the month of November for Blogember I recall my first job. I often say that when we recall the past, things that appear to have gone on forever, are often relatively short in the grand scheme of things.  After my dad passed away when I was 8, my mom remarried a year later.  By the time I was 10 they went into business together opening a neighborhood Italian bakery on the west side of the town I grew up in. This was long before the days of Carlo's Bakery where cakes cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars. A bakery was a lot of hours and energy for very little profit back then.  To that end, I was cheap labor and was trained to bag rolls and make change at the cash register.  In retrospect it talk me a lot about customer service, the value of relationships in returning customers and how running a family b...

Be yourself

Sometimes things just hit me like out of the blue and I wonder why didn't I think of that sooner!?  And after the realization settles in I'm at such peace.  This has happened several times recently at work with all the lessons I've amassed over the last 8 months of a project that is coming to a close.  I honestly didn't realize that I learned so much, or that I was actually putting those lessons into action. I find that I evolve at an interesting rate.  Sometimes it feels as though nothing changes, and other times it's like I don't even remember how things used to be.  And all the while I've maintained that I just need to be myself.  Although I've changed over time through the lessons, the core of who I am remains the same. And that's a great feeling.  To not have to turn myself inside out to fit.  It not only allows me to be authentic, but feels so true deep inside.  I say what I mean, I mean what I say and I know how to say it as to...