Halloween Memories

With Halloween approaching I thought I'd write about some of my Halloween memories.

For some strange reason I never really liked Halloween when I was little.  I did the usual stuff - but grudgingly and mostly to please my mother and because my younger sister did not want to go alone.  Sometimes my older sister went with us (my younger sister and me). She was in charge and rather bossy.  My younger sister was a clown and silly and loved running up to the doors and yelling "Trick or treat".  That was the part I hated.  But she wouldn't go alone (I don't know if it was fear or shyness that held her back) so I had to go with her to each house.  It was emotionally painful for me.  I felt ridiculous and stupid with a stupid costume.  I never wanted to be seen with either one of my sisters  by my friends who  were frequently unaccompanied by an adult or older sibling.  I never liked the costumes either.  I wanted to be something pretty, with a long dress and soft, long curly hair.  That didn't happen.  My hair was kind of long usually, but straight as a board, fly away and messy. I remember in school, the nuns always complaining that my hair was in my eyes and telling me to fix it.  I never could please them.

As for costumes - they were always awful and I was always embarrassed to be seen in them. They were thrown together at the last minute most of the time, scratchy and not warm enough.  But I think most of the dissatisfaction was because I was a fussy little kid who thought everything had to be exactly right or I wouldn't cooperate.  I feel bad for my mother having to deal with the likes of me.  I complained about everything. 

But the promise of candy and other goodies called me to the streets so  I developed a strategy to help me get some without having to call out the dreaded "trick or treat". I followed the groups of other kids in my neighbor at a respectful distance.  As they would approach a home I would tag along a little bit behind and be at the door just after they yelled "trick or treat" which I thought was stupid and humiliating.  Then the goodies would be passed out to all of us and we'd move on.  My sister always wanted to yell the greeting, but I was not so inclined.

I did like running in the cold evening up and down the street from house to house, and I enjoyed the candy.  Things went on like that for a few years - then I was done.  I refused to go "trick or treating" any more. Instead I passed out the treats to the kids and enjoyed that a lot.  I felt very grown-up and the little toddlers were so cute. I was maybe 10 or 11 and proud to be trusted by my mother to do a good job.

Once as a teenager we had a Halloween party, but it was kind of boring, and I was a bit embarrassed.  I don't think I ever had a party again in my life.  Looking back now I think I was a strange little kid.

Fast forward to the year my daughter was 4 or 5 yrs old and my sister and I took her 2 and my one and I think my older sister's son was also with us. He was about 4 also. We went to our old neighborhood where my mother still lived. My younger sister who was always a lot of fun and could be silly (I was always so serious) was dressed in a hobo costume and had blackened her face a little and borrowed an old hat from my father. She looked cute and she went with the kids as they walked around my mother's  neighborhood.  Strangely,  my daughter refused to call out the trick or treat threat and did the same thing I did, tagging along at the end of a group (except this was a group of her cousins).  She had a great time.

When we had finally worn out the kids. We went back to Grandma's house, and the kids had hot chocolate,  hot cider, biscuits, muffins, hot dogs and some candy.  I don't think any vegetables made it to the menu, but a good time was had by all especially my mother. Though she looked tired as we were leaving she was smiling.