Happy Halloween-What are YOUR memories?
Read more articles on Let Me Share With You and Holidays.October 31, 2007
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
October 31, 2007
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
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Here is wishing you a Happy Halloween! Whether you are celebrating, taking the kids trick or treating, or just handing out candy, have a little fun with this day!
Now, we must be politically correct and acknowledge that not everyone feels the way that those of us who enjoy this “holiday” do…there’s a whole stance that the day is connected to depravity and paganism and the like. I understand this to a degree, and even admire organizations for replacing it with “harvest” festivals-but let’s face it: people enjoy dressing up, acting silly and getting free goodies. As long as that’s the premise behind Halloween, people will probably want to keep it on our calendar. And, as long as rationally thinking folks can separate misplaced anxieties over costumes and jack-o-lanterns from real troubles, I think it will be.
So, for those of you who have grown up with Halloween, I’d like you to think about your most vivid memories of the day, for no other reason than sentimentality. (After all, we here at the Compendium want to get y’all thinking in ways that other blog sites don’t!) What was your favorite mask? How were you the most scared? How long did your bag of candy last?
I have a few clear recollections: I remember one rainy night when I was about 7, I fell and spilled my treats on the ground and cried. I also remember feeling so bad for Charlie Brown when he missed Halloween because he waited for the Great Pumpkin. I remember having to dress as a biblical character one year at my Catholic grade school. (I went as Mary, as almost every other girl did.) I remember neighbors gushing over my costumes and inviting me into their house before doling out the candy bars, and my dad carrying my pillowcase bag for me. I remember making my daughter’s costumes for the first 10 years of her life.
We who celebrate Halloween probably have many memories that make us smile. I don’t think we’ve been corrupted and disturbed by it any more than by scary movies. (I still think “The Exorcist” was the scariest ever made.) An irony is that, today, when more people don’t celebrate it, commercially, Halloween is more prevalent than ever. Forty years ago, decorations consisted of a few pumpkins, paper skeletons, cardboard witches, and ghosts made out of sheets!
My mother continued to send me Halloween cards even after I was grown and married. If she had been here the last 7 years, I’m sure my daughter would have been the recipient of a huge bag of treats and the subject of photos every year. As it is, my daughter’s trick or treat days ended last year, so this year will be an adjustment. I for one, will still be a glad to see the munchkins coming around. They will be collecting happy memories as well as lollipops and chocolate, just as we did…
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