A Halloween Costume

Mum looked up from her sewing machine set at one end of the dining table. She was stitching another strip of bright polka-dotted fabric onto the gypsy skirt that was going to be Laurie's costume. . . I'll be finished with this as soon as I add the rick-rack, (she said.). (OLD WOUNDS, page 333)

Laurel's costume for that fateful Halloween was (surprise, surprise) based on the lovely gypsy outfit my beloved grandmother made for me when I was in kindergarten. As you may have guessed, I rarely throw anything away. The picture is faded but the dress itself has been kept safe in a cedar chest and is almost as bright as it was sixty years ago.

Here's wishing a happy All Hallows' Eve to everyone!

And from ghosties and ghoulies and long-leggity beasties,
and things that go bump in the night,
May the good Lord protect us!