Trick-or-Treat… Look Out!

I know it’s still early spring, but I had to share this story with you.  As the end of summer approaches every year, I begin to think about Halloween, one of my favorite holidays; that and the fact that I can start going outside again without my asbestos suit.  You have to remember that I live in Phoenix, Arizona.  Here in the desert, many of us view the end of summer the same way Minnesota residents view the spring thaw. 

When I think about Halloween, I think about the year that we hosted a big Halloween party at our house and invited all of my school friends… and Joey.  I was about nine years-old at the time and we had planned for everything, including a haunted walk through our back yard.  At the time, my mom was a foster parent to a little girl with Down syndrome, named Katherine.  This was Katherine’s first Halloween celebration and she was ready to party.  

One of the first activities we had planned was trick-or-treating, which was perfectly natural for a large mob of 6 to 10 year-old children.  So, off we went, all of us little ghouls and goblins, in search of zits, cavities, and the time of our young lives.  As we traveled from house to house, we noticed that Katherine was more excited than we anticipated, rushing around the neighborhood like a pinball with a death wish.  I use this odd expression because Katherine, at only four years-old, was just the right height to smack into anything that connected with her forehead or eyeballs.  Those things included the following: a doorknob, a car bumper, Darth Vader’s light saber, a child’s elbow, a fire hydrant, and finally, a trip through the rosebushes.   

No one could catch up with her; it was like chasing a dropped fire hose on full blast.  One of my mother’s co-workers, who had been watching the mayhem with winces and groans, finally managed to catch Katherine, and picking her up, physically took her from house to house to ensure that she had teeth with which to enjoy her candy. 

When we got back to the house and could see Katherine in the light, we were horrified.  She looked like a prisoner of war who’d been tortured for information.  Luckily, the most dangerous part of the evening was behind us.  All that lay ahead now was ice cream, cake, Halloween candy, and the much anticipated haunted walk through the Crowley back yard.   

So, off Katherine went, with ice pack, Bactine, and Band Aids, to enjoy the rest of her evening.  She was very happy, and so were we.