🪐 When I Was Geordi La Forge for a Day

I tend to wax nostalgic every year around this time. Halloween is nearly here, and that sets off a flood of childhood memories for me.

When I was growing up in the early 90s, Halloween was a big deal in my family and in my tiny hometown. While most kids wore store-bought costumes or hand-me-downs from older siblings, I was exceedingly lucky.

I had an uncle with a degree in costume design, and he would design costumes every year for me, my siblings, and my cousins. And let me tell you, we had some interesting and fun ones!

A sampling of the neat costumes I had as a kid:

• A penguin. Along with my cousin, we won our hometown costume contest)
• A mummy. This costume was a pair of grey footie pajamas on which my uncle hot-glued weathered-looking bandages that he had stained for the vintage look. The headpiece was a ski mask with the same bandage treatment.
• The Kool-Aid Man. This was — and still is — one of my all-time favorite costumes. My uncle created a giant “glass” pitcher that lit up red from the inside. It fit over me perfectly. I wore red lensless glasses as well.
• Eggs & Bacon. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. This was one of the last years my uncle made costumes before moving to Milwaukee, and me, two of my siblings, and two of my cousins were all breakfast foods! My costume was big and a little heavy on top (my face shown through two strips of bacon), but going from house to house as a part of a group like this was so much fun.

There was one more costume that was my absolute favorite, then and now.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was airing new episodes every week, and I was hooked. I’ve always been a rather large astronomy, space, and sci-fi nerd, and TNG fit that love perfectly. I’d go to my grandma’s house each week to watch the new episode and drink orange pico tea with my uncle in the basement.

I forget the exact year now, but the two of us were on the basement couch waiting for the newest episode to begin. My uncle asked me what I wanted to be for Halloween that year, and my answer was quick and simple: Geordi La Forge.

The next day, costume designer began. I would be Geordi and my cousin would be Ryker. The costumes only took a few weeks, but we also had the chest communicator and phasers. And I had the fun eye band, of course. And because I knew better, as did my uncle, there was no blackface. My Geordi was a little white girl with a blonde ponytail.

That costume felt different than all the others. It made me feel like I was a small part of the universe that has been a huge part of my personality my entire life. I loved everything about it, and I wish I still had the costume. I know photos exist, but I’d have to do some digging to find one.

So each year around this time, I think of little Kerri-as-Geordi and how excited she was to be able to be one of her heroes for a day. It makes me smile every time, and I hope this is a memory that I continue to hold onto as I get older.