I had the pleasure of spending two different Halloweens with Esme, both of which are the source of great memories. Look at this picture of Brian and I, all dressed up and looking down at Esme. This is in many ways very indicative of the kind of influence Es had on our lives. She's all of perhaps four, and see how she is already in charge of all of us. Brian and I are looking at her, most likely ready to do whatever her bidding is, already having dressed ourselves up as a zombie (Brian, complete with a face mask to achieve the zombie pallor) and a....well I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be (the phantom of the opera?). Franny is around also, costumed in whatever we could find, and we're all there to escort our little girl, dressed up as "lyion", around to all the houses. We know just where to go, Jerry's little neighborhood, where the people seem to enjoy halloween and really create quite a scene, with sound effects and everything. It's a great little night, and we loved being together, and having the chance to go trick or treating once again.
Esme always had the ability to bring out the kid in us, and these photos prove it. Often when I played with Es, particularly as a small girl, we would play imaginative games. Dad frequently mentions the habit that Esme and I shared of walking back and forth muttering stories to ourselves. This habit evolved into acting out shared fantasies with each other. While they can be somewhat harder to maintain as an adult ("oh we're going to play that again?"), I still managed to go into that fantasy world with her a fair bit, and had some memorable moments acting out both cinderella and the secret garden.
I also remember a later Halloween, this one with Todd, when Esme dressed up as the ghost. She was clear about her costume from the beginning, and I think we were all surprised at how awesome such a simple costume actually looked. Esme's vision surprised us all, and as we wandered the streets from house to house, the compliments flowed fast from other trick-or-treaters--"Hey the classic!" "Nice ghost!" "That's awesome!" Much better than all those store-bought teenaged mutant ninja turtles, or whatever it is children like to wear these days. She was a always a girl with her own unique vision.
