A Close Friend Remembers Halloween with Nancy

Remembering Halloween with Nancy.

 

I grew up across the street from Nancy. I want to share my memories of Halloween with her.

 

It was always dark. Neighborhood kids were everywhere. Parents waited in the street while kids went up to the doors of houses. It was such a fun night being out together in the dark and pretending to be someone or something else. One popular house let the parents sit and they served lemonade and cookies. There was one house on our street where every year, the woman dressed up as a witch. She was so scary! She really looked and acted like a witch. We would be brave and go up to her door as a group. She’d slowly open the door and cackle. Then she’d speak to us in a creepy, witch voice. We had a fun time being brave. Of course, throughout the rest of the year, the house was known as “the witch’s house”.

 

I remember one year, Nancy’s mom was making her a special costume. She was going to be a medieval princess. I remember because at the time, I had no idea what a medieval princess was. She had a cone hat with a beautiful scarf coming down.

 

Another year my brother, Jim, and I coordinated outfits with Nancy. We were dressed as the Munsters - Lily, Herman and Grandpa. Nancy, being younger and shorter, was an adorable Grandpa. This was a rare time that we bought our costumes. Part of the costume went over our clothes and then we had a plastic mask held in place by a rubber band in back of our head. You’ve all seen these types of costumes, but they were novel at the time. It may even have been the first year such costumes were available. We thought we were so cute. Of course, we had fun fooling adults into thinking we really were the Munsters.

 

Happy Halloween. Let’s bring Nancy home.

Edie Rogers Babbe