Halloween Memories

Saturday, October 29, 2022.  I loved Halloween when I was a kid, but it was a little different back then.  We carved pumpkins using basic shapes like triangles and circles, and tried to make jagged-looking teeth without cutting one of them off.  (Inevitably, I had to reattach one with a toothpick.) Nowadays, so many of them look like artwork.  Not that that’s a bad thing.  I’m amazed at what people can do, and I love looking at the intricate designs.  But it is different.  My mom used to roast the pumpkins seeds, and I loved them!  I tried doing it for my kids one year, and I never did it again.  It’s hard work separating the seeds from that pumpkin gunk!  I had no idea the effort Mom put in till I tried it myself.  Then there’s the costumes.  If you bought one in a store, it came with a hard plastic mask with an elastic band that went around the back of your head.  There were three problems with those plastic masks: one, that elastic band cut into your ears; two, the condensation created from trying to breathe in them made them all wet inside; and three, no peripheral vision.  Trying to see out of those little eyeholes was definitely a challenge.  The other option was to make one up with stuff around the house.  My favorite costume was when I put a sheet over my head and cut two holes for the eyes.  I have no idea why I was so excited about it - maybe because of Charlie Brown’s Halloween?  I don’t know, but it was simple and fun, and I loved it.  Again, I love seeing the elaborate costumes people wear now, but it definitely takes more effort.  We used to use pillow cases to collect our candy, and we’d get so much that we had to make drop-offs two or three times because they got too heavy to carry.  It was a blast!  I know some people talk about Halloween as “the devil’s holiday”, and that’s sad.  We gave no thought to anything other than having fun, and I think that’s what most people are doing today.  Whether you do Halloween simple or elaborate, if your kids are excited and having fun, then God is there.  I know He was there as I was racing around the neighborhood having the time of my life.