Trick-or-treat
Memories of what has become my favorite holiday, for which I now plan well in advance.
I have been working on an essay about language. This is what had been at the top of my parenting mind over the last month. I was all set to give it a final read and hit publish this Monday. Now my mind is elsewhere. I will share it soon, but for now I’d rather share a story that brought my children and my husband some laughs in the hopes it brings you a bit of light, too.
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Trick-or-treat
I was eight years old for my third Halloween. For my first, I was new to the US. I did not yet speak English. I remember standing on neighbors’ doorsteps behind an ill-fitting plastic Snow White mask with my pumpkin bucket in hand. My brother stood by my side dressed as Bam-Bam. Neither of us said a word. This seemed to alternately confuse and enrage the adults handing out candy. The more people urged me to speak the tighter I closed my lips—a resolve that is baked into my personality. But, as I have seen with my own children, it only takes one confusing evening to understand the candy exchange at the heart of Halloween.
By the following year I was eagerly anticipating the holiday from the moment the first pumpkins appeared in stores. My brother donned a clown outfit beautifully hand-sewn by our Tita. I refused mine, having picked up from classmates that store-bought costumes were what one should want. A witch hat was procured at the last minute and we were off. We walked alongside friends I mostly did not recognize beneath their masks. As my second Halloween drew to a close, my understanding of the holiday firmed up. Yes, the candy, but also the possibility of transformation, if only for one night!
My third Halloween. It was 1993 and Disney’s Aladdin had just come out. A care package from my Puerto Rican aunts included the VHS tape and a pair of bunny slippers that my 6 year old now wears around our apartment. It was, and would remain, our only real Disney tape, the thick white plastic case a prized possession in itself. How many times we were actually allowed to watch the movie is beyond the scope of my memory. It was enough to nail A Whole New World at karaoke a couple of decades later, without a glance at the scrolling lyrics. It was enough to know that I would dress up as Jasmine for Halloween that year.
The official Jasmine costume, which is to say the one being sold at the local stores, dazzled with synthetic fabrics in shades of turquoise and faux gold detailing. It was THE costume of the year and it was perfect for me. I didn’t even need the wig. I would transform into the most convincing Jasmine in my class. Brave, strong, beautiful and definitely not shy. The latter was an attribute I had internalized from hearing myself described as such for not speaking English, at first because I barely understood it and later for reasons we can explore another time.
At the store, I plucked the costume off the shelf and handed it to my parents with naive confidence. I don’t think I even asked them, that is how certain I felt about my choice.
How exactly did my father say no? I’m sure it was him and not my mother. My disbelief was like a record scratching. Like the Monster Mash coming to a sudden halt. A pyramid of pumpkins collapsing. A murder of crows taking off. My jaw on the ground. The next moments are a blur. It is too cold for a crop top. But there are flesh-toned mesh sleeves! It is too revealing. But there is a flesh-toned mesh torso! No daughter of mine. But the mesh!! Do you not see the mesh?!
We left the store empty-handed set-jawed. Neither of us willing to budge for the other. The day before Halloween, in a state of panic, I sent my parents back out to get a costume. Any costume (unless there is still a chance that they will understand and get The Costume, in which case please let it be that costume.)
My father came back with “Uno macanudo!” A groovy one.
A ghost.
Share your own funny Halloween memories below. Can’t think of one? Leave your favorite costume instead.
I like to go spooky, but my kids are little so we’re keeping it light with a museum theme. Details to be firmed up soon!
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That’s all for now, friends. Wishing you a weekend with some light and warmth.
Melina