Fall is here, leaves are turning, the air is changing, and the harvest continues. Most people think of Halloween when they think of October. I had a baby brother born the day before Halloween. He will be sixty this year and I am still trying to figure if he was a trick or treat.
I remember staying with my aunt. Mamma was in the hospital and I had specific
orders from her. I was in the second
grade and I had been elected harvest king by the second grade. Mamma told me to be sure to take my little
suit to have the king and queen pictures taken.
Shoot, I was a second grader know-it-all and stayed with my favorite Aunt Annie. I convinced my her, you know how second graders are and I was her favorite, that
it was not the day to have my picture taken.
Mamma sacrificed to buy the outfit.
I remember it hanging under the plastic by the door as I went to catch
the school bus. I knew I messed up the
minute I got on the bus and saw a fifth grader with his suit hanging in the
bus.
Mamma was upset and I look like a little pauper in a shirt
and blue jeans standing by my queen. I should have been smarter and told her that since it was Halloween that I dressed like a little poor boy that did not have a suit. I
sure was glad to see my little brother.
Mamma was so proud of him and did not spend too much time reminding how
upset she was with me. I never will forget the look in her eyes for me. They were not near as happy as they were for my little brother. It did not help
when I did not tell her about the pictures the school had for sale of the
pauper and queen.
Mamma enjoyed Halloween.
We did not dress in typical costumes.
We dressed in old clothes and went serenading. One year Mamma dressed up like an old
man. She wore false teeth from age
thirty to her death. Mamma was a tomboy
growing up so she could act like a man with a very deep voice. I drove her from house to house and when we
got to her mother’s house, grandmoe ran her away with a double barreled
shotgun. Grandmoe thought she was a
cousin who was a drunk. My great uncle Joe had the best response to mama's shenanigans. When the "toothless old man tricked and treated Uncle Joe, he and his son and grandson tackled mama to the floor and threaten to amputate a vital organ which mama did not have. Mama begged her way out and my great uncle and his cohorts were embarrassed. We had so much
fun.
The fondest memory of a Halloween is of Mrs. Blonnie Crumpton. We went to her house and she had never had
anyone trick or treat her. We looked
like a bunch hoodlums or rift raft. Mrs.
Blonnie was the second oldest member of my home church. Her dad fought in the Civil War. She was poor and cooked on an old wood stove.
When momma explained to her the meaning trick or treat, Mrs.
Blonnie said, “Come in children.” She
treated us to baked sweet potatoes. They
were in the warmer of that old wood stove.
They were not chocolate or caramel, but they were good. Every time someone bakes them I think of that great saint
of God who my preacher explained as one of the greatest prayer warriors he knew. Blonnie was kin to my grandmoe through the Crumptons who all loved sweet potatoes. Dad would refer to the sweet potatoes as "Crumpton Taters."
Today when most people think of Halloween, it is evil. Evil things happen, but God’s people can do
good things just as Mrs. Blonnie did.
Paul admonishes the Romans, “Be
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (
No comments:
Post a Comment