happy halloween

our house


our pumpkins

Halloween has long been one of my favorite holidays. My elementary school always made a big deal with a parade on Halloween day or the closest day before it if it fell on the weekend. Each class would take a turn walking single file through every classroom in the school. We'd have a party in our classroom and play traditional Halloween games like bobbing for apples. The school held a carnival one night close to Halloween but never on Halloween because we were all out trick-or-treating. There was a cake walk. One year, I won two cakes! A booth with ducks in a plastic pond that you tried to throw rings around. And, of course, a haunted house. I loved being scared. Often they would make a maze out of cardboard boxes taped together. With the lights out and holes made in strategic places, it was thrilling.

Junior high and high school were too academically minded to have parades, but we were still allowed and encouraged to dress in costume. Most of my teachers dressed up as well. In high school, we had costume parties. I was probably 14 the last time that I went trick-or-treating. In college, I went to a Robert Palmer concert on Halloween night. Before the show, they had a costume contest. More than half the crowd was dressed in costume. This was the 'Simply Irresistible' tour, and the local DJ's (all male) were dressed as the 'Simply Irresistible' girls from the music video. It was a memorable show.

When I was really little, I remember that I wore fairy wings one year, and a Casper the Friendly Ghost plastic mask another. I can still remember the way the condensation from breathing inside the mask built up around my nose and how good it felt to lift the mask up and breathe. In the fifth or sixth grade, my best friend Nancy and I made dice out of cardboard boxes. It was the first year that I had a boyfriend at Halloween and so did Nancy. We went trick-or-treating with them and tried to hold hands in our costumes. Our boxes were so big that only our hands stuck out of the holes.

Halloween parties as an adult were never as good as the ones held in the campus houses in Sofia. The Americans hosted the party and the Bulgarians showed us how to rock the night away. We danced and sang all night long. This is when I learned all the words to 'Alice.'

But none of these Halloweens were as good as tonight with my wonderful family. Paul has noted my enthusiasm for the holiday and joined in the spirit by carving a pumpkin, wearing a hat, and helping with decorations. Timothy's pure, unadulterated delight at everything from the decorations, to getting candy, to giving candy brings me such deep joy. I think this is a peek at what Christmas will be like this year, another favorite holiday of mine.


our family