Blog #19  Happy Halloween stories

November 1, 2014



Halloween night in our town means some combination of the following: cold, hot, rain, sleet, snow, howling winds or eerie stillness. It is always dark by 5:30. So, off we went this year

(the combination: cold, gushing winds with a sprinkle of snow flurries) Trick or Treating. I walk with the kids, not because they need me. And not because I fear kidnappings on Halloween, but because my neighborhood has a way of adults bonding in the streets as the kids run all over the place collecting candy. We have smallish neighborhood, with great folks that live here. They know each other by name, watch out for each other with boundaries of not crossing good neighbor lines. It’s ideal, really. We also happen to live in an older community. A community of elderly people who originally built these houses we live in, who remember the neighbors of yesteryear, who can tell stories. Some of their adult children live in the hood, as do their grandchildren. Some are on the path of leaving the world due to age. Others are out, downsizing into more reasonable housing. The fact is that many of them are here right now, excited to see the kids on Halloween. They make special bags for them. They have watched this round of kids grow from babies to pre-teens. They are happy to hear about their costumes, albeit they have no idea who half these modern characters truly are. So, my kids are not allowed to ring the doorbell and yell “trick-or-treat” and run off. They need to engage with our neighbors. Some old, who have stories about Halloween many years ago. Some young, who look up to this round of kids. Some new, whom they had to introduced themselves.  Some their peers, out tonight with them. They talk, they laugh, they listen.  Another socialization game played at its finest level. I’m proud to say that my children did it with ease, politeness and grace, even in the uncomfortable elements. May they always have such a rich range of friends to converse with.

Oh, and they made their own costumes, too. Home economics, check.