My favorite part of Halloween in Columbia is trick-or-treating downtown. And the highlight of the evening is a visit to Gotcha.
For those unfamiliar, Gotcha is a costume shop in downtown Columbia, owned and operated by a gentleman I've only known as "Arrow." As one might imagine, the shop is extremely busy on October 31, as college students and others are completing their outfits for upcoming parties.
Here's the scene:
We walk into Gotcha, fighting the crowd a little to get in the door.
Arrow yells, "Make way for the important people!" in reference to Blake and Madilyn as he makes the 30 people in line scoot back two steps to make room.
"Hey, it's Bumblebee and Hermione!" (they were mis-identified as Harry Potter and a Power Ranger in many of the other stores) "Come get some candy! Happy Halloween!"
At this point it is important to define "candy" in Gotcha terms. We are not talking about tootsie rolls or smarties. The kids' eyes opened wide as they looked upon a basket full of king size candy bars. Blake grabbed M&Ms. Madilyn beamed at her choice: a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup 4-pack.
As we walked out the door, I had trouble composing myself. It was an emotional experience for me.
In a world where kids (particularly once they grow past the cute baby and toddler stages) are typically ignored, mine were declared the important people by a store owner who surely had much more important things to do on his most profitable day of the year. For 2 minutes, Arrow made them the stars of the show.
Arrow's "let the children come to me" selflessness surprised and overwhelmed me. But why? Because I think love and acceptance is reserved for more "Christian" environments like home or church (often neither lives up to that billing)? Am I surprised that God can love on my kids in a downtown costume shop? Do I think the lavish generosity of chocolate is somehow different than or separate from God's gift of grace?
I'm not sure about answers to any of those questions, but I do know this: My children experienced unconditional love this Halloween. Not at a church-sponsored, anti-Halloween "Fall Festival," but among the plastic vomit, inappropriate costumes, and half-drunk college students at Gotcha.
A glimpse into heaven, Gotcha style:
3 comments:
Excellent Post! I'm glad the kids had so much fun trick-or-treating this year. Good to see kudos to a store owner who is obviously making a big difference in his community...great story!
Nice. I, too, love Gotcha on Halloween. I will love it a little less once Sophia starts really eating her own candy, but the spirit remains...
Words well worth waiting for, thanks for posting it. Every small act of affirming a kid's incomparable worth does more to bring peace in this world than anything else we can do, in my opinion.
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