Halloween Love Story

When I was young, I sang in our church's youth choir, and as was the case with most youth choirs, there weren't enough guys. Our choir director was still attending the University, so he recruited a friend to come and help out. This friend was a part-time choir director at his own church, though he was only 18. I was 14. This was my J-man, and I had a BAD case of puppy love.

Every girl in the choir wanted to date the J-man. He was cute, with blue eyes and dimples, outgoing, and a very nice person, to boot. So he dated them. Well, not ALL of them. He didn't date ME. But then, I was a nerd, a dork, a kid. So he became the big brother I never had. Between girlfriends, he'd come over and go fishing with us, eat supper at the table with us, take my little brother swimming, etc. I met two of his cousins, Steve and Bill, one my age and one a year younger than me. Steve and I became best buds, but I still had the ga-ga eyes for J-man.

The year I was 16, J-man planned Halloween "socials" for 3 different youth groups at 3 different churches. He needed a cast, and found it in Steve, Bill and me. Steve, who was big into acting and stagework, did all our make-up. J-man was the Vampire, I was (a blond) Vampira, Bill was the corpse, and Steve was the Wolfman. I remember it took HOURS for him to put all that hair on his hands and face. I can't remember our scripts, except there was a lot of hissing and teeth-baring among the subordinates. After the last night, we weren't ready to give it up, so we rode around in J-man's car, scaring other drivers, stopping in at a 7-11 where the lady squealed with delight and took our pictures, making the good times last.

For me, it was more than just a fun night. It was a chance to be on an almost equal standing with the guy I had a crush on, a time to be someone other than the dork I was, a chance to be a part of something that made people laugh and scream at the same time. It was magical.

Four years later, I married the J-man. Bill married a nurse, has 3 biological children, adopted a Down's syndrome daughter, and has a bunch of grandchildren. His oldest daughter, Amy, will be donating a kidney to a family member next Tues. Steve has been married and divorced at least twice, and lost his only child, a son just 18 months older than my DD, when the boy was about 23. These days, he does Santa. J-man and I, well, we have survived cross-country moves, a bankruptcy, a foreclosure, a failed adoption, a catastrophic illness, 36 years of marriage, and a beautiful, strong-willed, redheaded daughter. And we still love Halloween.

P.S. If you like ghost stories, head on over to Hootin' Anni's place