If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting my son, then I’m sure you’ve noticed his vibrant personality. The older Jax gets, he gains an intense lust for life, one that he undoubtedly inherited from his father.
Every Kid Loves Halloween
It’s no surprise that kids love Halloween. They get to dress up as their heroes, prance around their schools, attend their church fall festivals, or walk around their neighborhoods while collecting bunches of candy. It’s the one night of the year when playing make-believe is encouraged and, it’s something that some of us never grow out of.
Staying in Character
Every October (while in our 20’s), around the third weekend of the month, my bestie (Justin Pepin) hosted a Halloween Bash that was epic. The food was extravagant, the music was pumping, and the adult beverages were always flowing.
Every year, during this annual bash, Justin Ayers became so invested in his Halloween character that occasionally, he pissed me off. Sure he was funny, but sometimes I just needed to ask him a real-life question like: “What time do you want to head home?” or “What time is the plumber coming tomorrow?” It didn’t matter which character he was playing, his response was never really a response.
“Ha ha ha, you’re so funny Old Gregg,” I’d sarcastically grumble. The conversation would usually end with me stomping away (while dressed like Pretty Woman, or Violet Ann Bickerstaff) to try again later.
Justin’s sense of humor was always a little off-color, but he had this way about him that made people laugh, instead of making them mad. Except for this one time. There was one year in particular when his “character” almost got him beaten to a pulp.
Tony Clifton
Tony Clifton was the rude alter ego of Andy Kaufman. He was openly crass, outspoken, and downright hurtful to people in the audience. His shtick was to publicly humiliate people in the crowd. He called fat people pigs and told women they were worthless. He was by far one of the rudest individuals I’ve ever seen up on a stage. Justin found this hilarious and took his role of playing Tony to the next level.
If you can just imagine this: A tipsy Justin, dressed as Tony Clifton, yelling out obscenities at random drunk party goers. It was the perfect concoction of drunk, idiotic, and down right hilarious. I can’t think of a reason why the situation got so out of control?
Before Justin had a chance to fire off his next one-liner, six 20-year-old dudes were holding back a pretty pissed off penguin from punching him in the face.
Did I mention that everyone was in costumes? I think there was a hotdog, a pirate, and maybe even a Frankenstein all holding back a penguin from my character committed husband.
This was the only time I EVER saw him break character!
I've Got a Snake in My Boots
Every Halloween since Justin died has been bittersweet. At first, it was too hard to face. But now, the older Jax gets, the more I can see his father’s personality bursting out of him.
Last year, I was beyond thrilled, to see Justin come back to life. It was no surprise that it came in form of his 4-year-old son, dressed as Woody. Jax happily pranced around, from house to house, quoting lines from Toy Story in his adorable little squeaky voice. I smiled with both joy and a little bit of sadness, knowing how proud his father was in that moment. Even if he wasn’t physically there to coach him through the night—he was there. 
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