When thinking about past Halloweens, I recall one Halloween in particularfrom my childhood.
I remember that my sister was dressed as a non-specificcountry girl, like Snow White when she was with the Dwarfs.
She had a redchecked apron, and a plastic face mask.
I was dressed in a suit, and also wore a face mask.
I can remember standingin the driveway with my sister, waving our hands in the air, while my fathertook still pictures and made home movies using the film-based movie camera wehad at the time.
Remembering the house we lived in at the time, I put my age at six or sevenyears old, making the year 1979-1980.
But what makes this the Costume of Ultimate Embarrassment? Well, at the time,nothing.
I seem to remember knowing that I was dressed as a man, but I thinkthat was all I knew my costume was.
Until a few years ago.
We were sitting in my parents' house, looking through old photo albums.
Andthen I saw it.
The old-fashioned, rounded-corner picture taken that Halloweenwhen I was six or seven was staring back at me.
In the picture, I am standingnext to my sister in the driveway.
With both hands, I am making the shape of aV--the peace sign.
Who was the mask on my face? The face of Richard Nixon! Not only had my parents dressed me in a Richard Nixon costume, they'd done ityears after Nixon had been impeached and ousted from office.
I can only imaginethe hilarity I caused in the neighborhood that Halloween night.
A six-year-oldCanadian girl dressed as a former, impeached President of the United States.
In all honesty, for all I know, I might have thrown a tantrum in the costumeshop insisting that my mom buy the "man mask" for me.
But I think I preferblaming it on my parents.