Halloween Hero

I am not sure who was more excited about Trick-or-Treating: Scott or Robby. Robby woke up bright and early yesterday morning, excitedly chattering about getting into his costume and getting candy. Scott sent me text messages throughout the day, counting down the hours until Trick-or-Treat. In an effort to stay busy, Robby and I spent the afternoon baking cookies and cake balls for our neighbors.

Fueled on pumpkin and bat shaped pancakes, we dressed in our costumes and took off to tackle the neighborhood. The boys happily skipped from house to house, ringing the doorbell before I made it halfway up the driveway. Yes, they were moving quickly, but I also knew that I was extremely slow. Last night I was having a dreaded "bad leg day."

It feels like the timing of my bad leg days is always poor, but I doubt that I could designate a good time for painful walking. These painful events are few and far between, a fact for which I am grateful. However, when bad leg days do occur, they serve to frustrate and to anger me. I hate feeling disabled or debilitated because of my limb loss. I felt both of those last night!

I knew that they would have slowed the pace had I asked. But I remember being a child on Halloween, and I didn't want them to slow down on my account. I simply became a lame little kitty cat, limping behind the elated Billy the Exterminator and Bumble Bee. I knew it was going to be a long night.

Thankfully Mr. Bill (my neighbor) adopted the persona of Superhero for Halloween. He saw me limping when I dropped off his cookies and cake ball treat earlier in the evening. He decided to swoop in and save the day. Or, at least he saved me a night of painful walking! He loaded some straw in the back of his pick-up truck and offered us a "Trick or Treat hay ride" through the neighborhood. Robby was over the moon excited to be chauffeured in the back of a pick-up. I was grateful for the respite from walking.

Despite my aching leg, we had a great Halloween night. I have no doubt that I would have been utterly miserable by the end of the night had I walked through the neighborhood. Sometimes being an amputee stinks--but a caring and thoughtful friend can make it a little easier!
*** This year Robby wanted to go as A&E's Billy the Exterminator. To be honest I tried to point him in a different direction, but he was insistent. We decided that Robby would be Billy and that Scott would dress as a bumble bee that needed to be exterminated. (Robby's favorite episode shows Billy removing a honey bee hive from a large tree.) Yes, Scott is a really REALLY good sport when it comes to donning costumes!