November 1 – “Multi-Hero Man”

Well, Cailyn was among hundreds of thousands of young Elsa’s roaming the streets all day yesterday.  We took her to school and the following “incident” occurred:

A young Elsa somewhat dumfounded her hopeful boyfriend Batman this morning.  As she approached to greet him, he turned away and ran.  His Mommy, feeling somewhat embarrassed, leaned down and whispered to her, “He just thinks you are so pretty that he can’t even look at you.”  That did the trick.  Made her day.  I was surprised that I hadn’t seen any other Elsa devotees, but she did meet up with another one at the door.  The young pretender was agog at the beauty of the original, however (that would be Cailyn, in case there was any doubt).  The two of them strolled in together, ready to take on the world.  Later that morning we went to the class Halloween party.  Uh-huh.  There were no less than 6 Elsa’s, although none of them had even close to the quality of dress Cailyn wore (Oh.  Did I fail to mention that Chris made the dress?  She made one for Noa, too.  Cuteness in miniature).

We also hosted our usual Halloween party.  We order five or six pizzas and invite anyone over who wants to participate in a great outreach opportunity.  We give away New Testaments along with candy.  This year we ran out of the testaments after handing out 312.  And the kiddos are always excited to get “a book” or, as we heard numerous times, “Un libro.” 

We tend to get some very unusual comments from the kids for some reason.  And sometimes they are just, well, speechless.  Like the teenagers that haughtily approach and make their demand “Trick or treat.”  I respond, “I choose trick.  Show me a trick and I’ll give you a treat.”  More often than not, I am met with a blank stare.  Oh, they generally get a treat anyway, but the ones who do come up with something – anything – get a few extra pieces of candy for their trouble.  My favorite of all the comments, though, came randomly from a little boy who obviously thought he could talk to me.  He was beside himself with excitements as he shared his most terrifying moment of the night.  “I was walking past this bush and it jumped up and started chasing me.  I was really scared.  It was just a person dressed as a bush, though.  But I was really, really scared.”  Now that had to be one creative costume.

I continued my own personal tradition of packing up a special mega-goodie bag for the first child to show up dressed as a fire fighter.  It took a long time, but a youngster finally came as the fire fighter puppy from some TV show I never heard of.  He was clearly prepared to fight fires, though, complete with an air pack on his back and a little fire hat on his head.  He won the bag stuffed full of extra candy, a New Testament and lots of little toys.

 

As luck would have it, a second youngster arrived later dressed in fire fighter gear.  Since the grand prize was already gone, I hooked him up with a few extra handfuls of candy.  And I struck up a conversation with his Dad to explain my fire department connection.  He said he worked for Gulf Copper and knew some of the guys who work for Galveston.  Playing along, I asked which ones.  He replied, “Well, there is really just one I know well.  He taught me a lot about high angle rescues and all kinds of ropes uses.  I learned a lot from him.”  Well, of course old proud Dad couldn’t resist that one.  I told him that was my son.  Not sure he believed me at first, but I think I convinced him.  Come back any time, Miguel.  And get here a little earlier next time.

Now on to the guest list.  Here is a sampling of the people who came for pizza: A family of owls (the Gerans).  The Star Trek crew (Geswenders).  An octopus (one of the Star Trek crew strangely morphed into an octopus.  Must have been the victim of some odd, interstellar virus).  Elsa (of course) and her Nurse Mama (I know that wasn’t really a costume, April, but hey, it was Halloween.  You get the benefit of the doubt, right?).  Nani (That would be Chris.  It’s how she explained her costume to everyone).  Alice in Wonderland (Kiara).  A young pirate and his dastardly crew (Wyricks).  An ebola tracker, complete with breathing mask and protective gear (Jennifer).  Quite the motley crew, wouldn’t you say? 

My own costume was a masterpiece, if I must say so myself (which I must say so … myself.  I don’t think anyone else would).  This year I combined the best of many worlds.  My Superman t-shirt.  My Davey Crockett/Daniel Boone coonskin cap.  My cowboy boots in honor of John Wayne.  My shorts to incorporate the DadDad persona.  And my black cape with the tell-tale “Z” for Zorro (And I had to explain who Zorro was more than once).  So who was my character?  None other than Multi-hero Man.  And to make the night even more perfect … as I stood watch over the hordes of trick-or-treaters in the coolness of a fine Halloween happening, a parent pushing her maybe two-year-old toddler in a stroller crossed my path.  When the parent paused directly in front of me to determine her bearings, the young girl catching a riding looked up at me.  She stared with eyes wide open for a long moment or two.  And just as Mom began their trek to the next house, the little one pointed at me and with an adoring look in her eyes, said simply … “Santa Claus.”  Not one to be deterred, Multi-hero Man accepted his new incarnation.  After all, he does have a white-ish beard.  And with the biggest grin he could muster, Multi-hero Man replied in the only appropriate way possible, “Ho, Ho, Ho.”

Matthew 7:11 says, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Jesus, thank you for being the hero of all heroes.  You certainly outshine us all.  Amen.