My mother spent 3
days in labor because I was turned upside down – a breech birth. I came out
feet first, a double Scorpio, and born on Halloween. I’m surprised my mother
didn’t send me back to the storks!
Halloween in the US
is the best holiday ever, especially if it’s your birthday. I remember one of
the first Halloweens, my mother made me a costume. I was a pumpkin. The pumpkin
part of the costume, she stuffed with newspapers. Trick or treat! When I was about 7, when a house didn’t give us our
treats, we tricked them by soaping their windows! Fun times!
In grade school, we
lived out in the country and my step-father would drive us to neighborhoods
with lots of houses, but the roads getting there were dark with no street
lights. He would suddenly swerve the car, saying he barely missed running over
a ghost. To my brother’s and my delight!
After I married and
had my daughter, I would stay home to hand out treats to the kids, while her
father took her around the neighborhood to get her treats. I always dressed up
like a witch, with scary music playing, in the house and would open the door
very slowly to the trick or treaters could hear the Halloween music. It was
such fun scaring them.
As my daughter got
older, I finally had time to go to Halloween parties with my friends. BIG
parties. Once 8 of us dressed up as convicts and chained ourselves together. Our
costumes were white industrial suits that we had painted black stripes on. One
of us was Rosie, the con. Another, the Great PumpCon (with a real pumpkin on
his head and a file embedded in the pumpkin, so he could break his way out of
prison). I was the Unknown Convict (like the Unknown Comic) and I had grossed out
my face with scars and burns, but then I put a white paper bag on my head that
was striped like my prison suit. People would constantly tell me to put the bag
back on my head because I freaked them out!
I can’t remember
what the others were, but it was great. We had to learn to walk in sync. We had
it pretty much down, until we got to the grand party where there were 30 steps
to get up into the entrance!!! That took some doing and we had to chant a road
prison song to get the rhythm to make it.
Once inside, we
wandered around the ballroom looking at all the freaky costumes. There was quite
a bit of drinking happening with our road gang and at some point a party
official told us we were picked to be 1 of 10 contestants chosen to go up on
stage. Well, at this point, we were all pretty looped and had no clue what to
do once we got on stage. When it was our turn to walk up more steps, one of us fell off the stage and the rest of us did
some stupid dance. We were actually booed off the stage!!! But that didn’t
spoil our fun. No way!
Another year I got
a full head mask of an old woman with stringy grey hair and made the mask up with lots of gaudy
make-up as if she were a 90-year-old whore. I didn’t want anyone to know who I
was so I didn’t say a word all night but made rude gestures to everyone! I had
made up business cards and named myself ‘BB; Biker Bitch.’ It was wonderful,
even though I was sweating up a storm under that mask. I left the party and had
a friend pick me up a block away and so no one knew whom I was. Hahaha. I was
the talk of the party and won $50 first prize!
The next year, my
mother died 5 days before my birthday. Two years later when I went to sort
through my mom’s things I found the birthday present she had meant to give me
the year of her passing. That broke my heart. The year after my mom passed, my
darling dog died on my birthday.
After that, I wasn’t too keen on celebrating Halloween.
Since I’ve come to
Sri Lanka, where they don’t celebrate Halloween, I’ve missed the celebration –
at least the kids coming around trick or treating. Last year I got a little
crazy and in the spirit and had my friend, Asoka, from Salon 7th
Avenue make my face up and went out with a bunch of friends (picture at the top).
This year was much
quieter. I watched DVDs. But then the next night, last night, my friend Jana
Rathnamalala, her sister and her sister’s 3-year-old son came over and brought
an amazing cake that Jana had made. We went crazy taking pictures! And feeding
each other cake. It was lovely.
I wonder what next Halloween will be like?
Biker Bitch!
My boots were knee-high and big chunky heels,
and I put sparkles all over them!
Jana's cake! Yummy!
Jana and me! And the cake!
Cutting the cake. When I blew out the candles,
I made a special wish!
Jana's sister and her son. Feeding him the cake.
Feeding Lipton!
Jana feeding me!
The icing is my favourite part!
Camera photos. Phone photos!
Blue teeth from the icing!
Cute portrait! Toby's in the background.
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