365 Inspirations—304: Halloween

Halloween brings back too many memories to count. I was born on Oct. 28th, but I was taken home from the hospital on Halloween. I was a Halloween baby. My father tells the story of how my parents brought be home on that day and how the kids in the neighborhood were being noisy and were told to be quiet because there was a new baby in the house.

I grew up with birthdays and costume parties rolled into one. Devils, skeletons, witches, goblins, fairies, princesses, ghosts, and angels all showed up at my doorstep for a party.

I loved trick or treating and have fond memories of freely roaming the neighborhood for candy with my friends and getting an entire pillowcase full of it by the end of the evening. Back in the day, kids had a lot more freedom than they do now.

I remember learning this 1969 tune in elementary school. I have a great memory for songs and often remember words to songs even after hearing something for the first time. This song's words have stuck with me since childhood.

Up until my 40th birthday, I held big Halloween parties in my house with a live band and the works. These days, I don't do it anymore and I wonder if I'm losing my zest for Halloween. This is my absolute favorite time of year. Today I hung up some decorations, bought some candy for the THREE kids we will probably have tonight and I still need to carve our pumpkin!

I had breakfast with my best friend this morning. She took me out for a belated birthday meal. She is tied into my many Halloween memories. She has to go to her kids' kindergarden today for a Halloween party and I helped her get stickers and other things for this evening. It was fun. She bought me an artist's portfolio for all the collages I've been making these days.

Tonight maybe my husband and I will watch a movie and eat popcorn. We want to be around for the kids tonight.

Do you have fond memories of Halloween? What are they?