The first Halloween night that I remember was spent at my Grandmother’s house. Both my brother and I helped her to hand out the treats to the kids who visited her front door. Some of the older kids wore very scary masks that scared me so badly that I still remember trying to sleep on the foldout couch in Grandma’s living room. To make it worse for a four or five year old girl, it was a full moon that year and the moonlight lit up the entire room and caused strange shadows in the windows.
Some years later, Halloween had become a fun excursion with the other kids in the
neighborhood. The Halloween outings that I remember weren’t complicated. Few in our immediate neighborhood had elaborate costumes; indeed, most of us wore nothing more than a face mask. Our masks were carefully packed away and stored for the next October.
In those days, we knew all of the neighbors on our block and most of the neighbors for several blocks around. As we grew older, the more far ranging our Trick of Treating took us. During some forays when my brother and I were pre-teens, we would cover the better part of six or blocks. The only problem was that our Treat Bags would become so heavy, but we loved every minute of the sugar high that followed!
A couple of years later, my brother and his friends played tricks on the younger children, draped toilet paper on the trees in the yards of their friends, and generally scared some young kids so bad they would run crying to their parents.
While I was in high school, Mom would send me out with our Bassett Hound, Sadie, to escort my two younger sisters and our cousin who lived up the street from us. The girls loved going and Sadie was quite content to tag along. My favorite memory was that several of the widows who lived alone always made homemade goodies for the kids from the neighborhood who visited them. When I took the girls Trick or Treating, these wonderful women would send goodies out to
me too. Trust me, one lady made the best homemade Divinity!
Since I was born in late October, I love the month and how the air seems to change as November approaches. I’m also a fan of costumes and being able to wear one on Halloween and not be thought to be weird. Well, weirder than I am at times!
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