Halloween Memories

 

I read with great interest Laura Sampson’s Saturday column on Halloween and old-fashioned traditions. I loved how we spent Halloween when we were kids, but it could still happen for you! Some of my best childhood memories come from Halloween! Let’s make it fun for our kids! Remember…bring the kiddos on out to my house on Halloween night!!! Yes, I turn down storytelling jobs on that night! “What,” I say, “I can’t possibly leave my own community on Halloween night!”

I can only remember my dad coming home early from the office one night a year. That night was Halloween. Well, there were two good reasons for it. First of all, it was my mom’s birthday, and he always wanted to make it special for her, at least as special as possible as it was Halloween!

For me, Halloween was the best holiday of the year. I think I still feel like that, and it wasn’t just because it was my mom’s birthday, but I love Halloween. As soon as we raced home from school, we got into our costumes. It was often a bit early as trick-or-treating didn’t start until dark. I mean goblins and ghouls do not show up until dark so why should we? We walked around in everything except our masks making sure we were ready. Trick or treat bags or plastic pumpkins, sometimes…lighting the candles in the pumpkins on the porch…filling up the big bowl for the trick or treaters at home which our mom would take care of. There was no way we would stay home.

Finally, finally it was dark and with our plastic masks in place and our bags gripped into our hands we headed out. Just being outside in the dark was thrilling enough for us. On Halloween night, there were no rules! My brothers and sisters and I always went in a pack. No matter how old I was, my dad was always there. He was always lurking in the shadow watching us, waiting for us, and if my dad were a pipe smoker, he would have had a pipe, but alas, no pipe.

We usually walked on the sidewalks, but sometimes we ventured out onto the curbs to the piles of leaves which had not been burnt yet.  We scuffed them high with our shoes sending them cascading on the person in front of us. How I loved those dry, crispy leaves! However, we were ever so mindful of the smoldering piles of leaves as we walked. To this day, I can still smell those burning piles of leaves. It was a marvelous scent with the thin blue line of smoke circling houses, towns, fields, pumpkin patches.

We walked until our legs ached and we were so cold. Halloween was always cold. Finally, dad would nudge us back towards the warm house with lights in the windows and the pumpkin still lit on the front stoop. Clamoring into the house, we couldn’t stop talking and couldn’t wait to see what was in our bags. It was always hard to see with those darn plastic masks.

Mom was waiting for us in the doorway with that large empty bowl of candy. The table was reset for cake with birthday napkins and candles on the side. Dad always ordered a Halloween cake. After the cake and ice cream (patiently we waited) we dumped out all of candy and let mom choose whatever she wanted. As she perused our stash of candy, we held our breaths as she passed over the Bunn candy bars. I mean, they were huge and worth ten cents! She always chose the smallest items and even mom couldn’t take the raisins or apples folks passed out. Who gives children raisins or apples???

When mom was done, we sorted the candy into piles: chocolate, gumdrops, lollipops, gum and then threw it all back into the bag. Finally, it was bedtime, and as tired as I was, I could barely give up the evening. Everything is magical on Halloween…the weather, the smoke, the fires, the candy, I remember going back out on the front stoop to take a final look up into the trees for flying witches (always hoping to see one!), taking one last look at our sad, caved in pumpkin. There were always a few stragglers coming along, usually the teenagers. My parents always saved candy for them.

Halloween as a kid was just as magical as it is for me as a grown up.

Happy Haunting.