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?
