We have started decorating for Halloween. It seems I am meeting more and more people who have a strong opinion on whether or not they like this particular holiday. My husband says it’s his least favorite holiday (although he doesn’t like most of them). My girlfriend also has the same opinion. When I asked her though, the first thing she brought up was a bad memory from childhood. She did add that many have lost the meaning of what Halloween really is.
I suppose I am not looking into the meaning of this holiday when I say that I like it. I like it purely because of the good memories it evokes for me. It is memories of our neighborhood coming together; seeing the other kids on our street and their parents, each yielding a flashlight through an inevitably dark, windy evening. It is the memory of waiting on pins and needles until dinner was over and night had fallen before my parents would let us go out. It is the memory of brainstorming with our friends what we were going to be that year, and in many cases, making that costume (there were no Targets back then to go and pick up a $15 costume of your desire). On the east coast, it was bone chilling winds that made you squeal and hold onto your costume so it wouldn’t blow away. And later, it was your chums from school in a group going out to trick or treat.
I trick or treated through high school. I now see so many kids who are not interested at this age anymore. I suppose there are now many other choices of things for kids to do. When I was little though, choices were limited in a small town and we looked forward to any holiday that brought a get together. It was innocent, it was creative. It was fun and most of all, it was memorable. I am glad I have those memories and I hope my kids will have memories like that when they are older.
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