Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Halloween Bullies

We will have a guest blogger this time.  Since it is Halloween season, we thought we would share a story Mommy wrote.  First, I will wrap up a few items.  The weather is great.  The Autumn leaves are all kinds of beautiful; Ringo and I have enjoyed playing in them.  Without further ado...

Haunted houses, witches, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, ghosts and goblins.  Halloween is a holiday children look forward to for months.  Especially the trick or treating.  Who wouldn't be a fan of going door to door, dressed in costumes, collecting delectable treats to savor over the next few months?  It was like a dream come true!  Until the Halloween when she was eight years old.

Halloween was going to be great that year.  She and her little brother had new hand made costumes, two sizes to big to accommodate the foul weather jackets that may or may not be needed!  Her brother was a cute clown.  She was the traditional witch.  They were going trick or treating with their friends, a group of five in all, some younger - some older.  It was a familiar neighborhood - lots of children, a church, a couple of schools and their day care.

The group had "hit the streets" hard, going up and down three blocks.  The younger kids were getting tired, so they went home to admire and relish their booty.

Along the way, she noticed her shoe was untied.  She stopped at the corner to tie it.  The group went ahead because they didn't notice she stopped.

She knelt down to tie her chunky brown shoes.  The girl stood up when finished and fell right back down.  It was a hard fall, knocking the wind out of her.  As she awoke, she heard kids laughing and running away.  She didn't know what happened.  Didn’t she tie her shoe right?  Did she trip herself?  Why did her head hurt?  Putting two and two together, she figured it out.  It was not an accident.  The real give away was the fact that her bag of treats was gone.

The laughing kids had hit her over the head, knocked her down and stole her candy.  Adding insult to injury, they had taken the little blue pocket flashlight belonging to her dad.  The girl put it in the candy bag when she tied her shoe.  She didn't want to misplace it.  She felt really bad about it being taken.

She caught up with her group of friends and told them what happened.  They were close to their destination, where her dad was waiting to take little brother and her home.

When they got to their home, the little girl went with her dad to a couple of neighborhood houses so she could at least have a couple treats.  She was still scared.

When she turned nine years old, the little girl was diagnosed with type I diabetes.  The diagnosis was in September.  She would never have a trick or treating again, where she could collect the delectable treats and savor them all by herself.

She did go trick or treating the Halloween of her ninth year.  She wore the traditional witch costume and the chunky brown shoes.  She didn't go with friends - she went with an adult and her brother.  The little girl was still scared.  She gave the candy to a neighbor girl who was in the hospital.  The bullies had taken away her innocent little girl Halloween dream.

Yes, that little girl was me.  Even though this happened many years ago, the memories are still very vivid.  The story is all true; nothing has been embellished for effect.

After that Halloween, I never felt safe walking in the dark, especially alone in the dark.  It made belonging to choir, band, volunteering, concerts and sporting events very difficult to attend.  I always had to walk home in the dark.  I participated in the events, but was always frightened.  Often I ran, holding my breath.  I would go out of my way if I heard or saw something suspicious.  At 19, I lost my sight.  I had no choice but to walk in the dark for the rest of my life.

Do bullies realize or even care what their actions do to their victims?  Victims can forgive, they will never forget.  The scars are forever.  What about the bullies?  What price do they pay?

Monday, October 19, 2015

Learned a New Word - Another Fun Event

Hello Everyone!  As you can tell by the greeting, it's little bro, Ringo writing this blog.  I will start with the weather update - for the seventh weekend in a row, we have enjoyed sunny weather!  The temperatures have varied from chilly to very warm, but the sun has been shining for much of the weekend days.

A couple weeks ago, Daddy took Boomer! to the Vet for his annual check-up.  They were surprised by the weight he had gained!  Upon further examination, it ended up that Boomer! has hypothyroidism.  Not to worry, this is a very treatable condition and he will need to take medicine every day for the rest of his life.  Other signs of his condition were lethargy (being tired) and loss of hair.  It's hard to tell hair loss on Boomer! because he is a Lab and they tend to shed a lot!

He's already feeling better, much more active and his hair feels nice and shiny!

Mommy and Daddy had another Children's Program last week.  They had a great turn out (27 children and 17 adults)!  The library was very happy, and considered it a success.  Mommy and Daddy thought it was great, too, and had a lot of fun!  They always enjoy talking to the children (and adults) and sharing our stories.  The kids asked some really good questions.


Their next event is a Local Author Book Fair on Saturday, November 14.  We hope to schedule more events, fingers and paws crossed!  Book orders  are slowly streaming in, I guess everyone took the summer off and are catching up now.

I hope everyone is taking advantage of the beautiful Fall season and absorbing all the sunshine you can!
Love,
Little Bro, Ringo