my favorite halloween costume ever.

halloween is my favorite holiday, along with the fourth of july and bonfire night. it's atmospheric and creepy and awesome. one of the reasons i love it so much is the chance to dress up and pretend you're someone--or something--else. (i haven't been very good at this in recent years, honestly.) my favorite costume i've had was when i was in third grade. i as a witch. but that year i carried around my family's black kitten, Black Jack (or jackie-O for short. don't ask) as part of my costume. a witch isn't complete without her black cat, right? the best part was, during the parade of costumes where we all line up, as elementary kids and the Brits do (queuing up is a national pastime there), and walk around the school for the parents to take pictures and ooh and aah and compare their kids with other kids, i carried jackie and got to hear everyone gasp in amazement at my awesomeness and how cute my kitty was. yeah, i was kind of a big deal for thirty minutes. what makes that costume even more special for me is that just a few hours later on that same halloween, jackie was run over and we had to bury her in our backyard. i was pretty devastated. she was my first kitty. (we had yet to save dinter and his brother from the dumpster.) despite this sadness, i still love halloween and i look forward to many more to come. happy halloween!