Pamela Wilsey

If I’d been the mother of girls, I would have spent time at my sewing machine making adorable Liberty print sun dresses. But as fate would have it, I was blessed with three boys and my sewing career was narrowed down to a series of superhero capes… and Halloween costumes. 

Halloween was my time to shine.  From the obligatory ghost and witch costumes, we graduated to pumpkins, dogs, monkeys, tigers, knights, Elvis (the glitzy, fat years), “devil with a blue dress,” and the Cat in the Hat, to name a few. 

Happily, the boys still enjoyed dressing up for Halloween all through high school, and our collective imagination led to designing and crafting unique costumes such a Lego spaceman, a Christmas tree that lit up, Darth Vader on Vacation, a Pedestrian crossing, and a six foot Energizer bunny. 

In fact, the Energizer bunny went through all three boys, continued on to college, and made its way through several celebrations at UC Berkeley, not necessarily at Halloween. 

Now most of the costumes I see when the trick-or-treaters come by are from Costco or the Disney store.  Halloween is full of little Elsas, Spidermen, and boys with axes seemingly planted in their heads. The homemade costume is maybe a relic of the past.  So I was delighted when my three-year-old grandson pawed through my old costume bin recently and picked out the pumpkin suit that his father wore at the same age. 

Maybe next year I’ll be back in business?