Halloween Nostalgia

Posted by Jules in Just Sayin' with Jules | 0 comments

When Fall comes around, the temperatures drop and the shelves at the grocery store start to fill with candy, despite the sugar, everything for me is bittersweet.

I’ve often referenced my dad in my writing and this time of year he frequents my thoughts.

Why?

My dad was Mr. Holiday. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were his favorites, though not in that order.

He and my mom belonged to a ballroom dancing studio, and on Halloween, they always went all out. Their costumes were never thrown together and always orchestrated in advance.
The costumes ran the gamut from comical to frightening as hell.

Take a little trip down my personal memory lane with me, will you? I may be a tad teary, yet I’m smiling at the thought of the memories.

How about something funny first?

My dad, the ultimate Italian machismo man agreed to a cross-dressing coupling with my mom.  My mom, an ultra-feminine, catering-business-owning, perfectly coiffed suburban mom dressed as a football player, my dad a cheerleader. I remember my mom with the black eye grease under her eyes, and mouth guard, my dad with his Dolly Parton wig and way too short skirt. Something about my dad with pom-poms was just wrong, but seven year old me was laughing.

My mom never quite took advantage of the whole “Halloween is the time I can be sexy” situation, but one year she did dress as Colette from the movie “Clue” and my dad was a mad chef, complete with a tall hat and a longer moustache which he waxed and twisted into curls on the end.

Perhaps the scariest costume my dad ever donned was a Native American ghost. He had a long, gray-haired wig and a God-awful set of teeth. When he came out, I didn’t recognize him and my little sister screamed and cried. My mom’s pairing escapes me. I can say with confidence she was not Pocahontas.

The holidays swell with nostalgia for me. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes tears flow freely. As I type this out, my heart is wedged in my throat, though I love this time of year – fall my favorite of the seasons.

Though my dad is at rest, and I am happy he no longer suffers the effects of a debilidating disease even after all this time, his absence weighs heavy. This time of year more than any other.
Just sayin.