Halloween Memories

I was thinking about past Halloweens, which I tend to do this time of the year. Hubby and I were talking about our fond memories of door-to-door treats and mountains of goodies. We also discussed how we both remembered the time when you could get hot cider, cupcakes and popcorn balls from neighbors without the worry of poisioning or hypodermic needles. Halloween brings up so many wonderful memories (as I've said, I had a rockin' childhood) of school, friends and amazing costumes. We had a Halloween parade every year at my school in California. I've been a witch, a fairy, a blue bird, Wonder Woman (of course) and a gypsy as a child. The teen years were pretty thin (I ended up hosting my own, house parties towards the end, just to get in a little horror movie, junk food and costume time).

As an adult, I think I've gone through the gambit! A Goddess, an 80's chick, a Rivendell elf, Foxy Brown, and Lilly Munster. This year, will prove to be just as fun (if I can get into my costume. It's sort of debatable right now. I'd better try it on this weekend, then run out and get a girdle if things prove troublesome). I'm looking forward to our parties and activities around here for that day. It sort of sucks that it falls on a Tuesday. I always feel like a zombie (no pun intended) the day after, not from alcohol or anything, just from the rev of adrenaline that seems to happen during the day. Everyone's walking around laughing, getting into character and eating way too much candy.

So, my fondest Halloween memories are many but I do have a great memory of trick-or-treating. I was about six or seven and my friend (we'll call her Tracey) invited me to her house to trick-or-treat and to their halloween party. There were other girls from my school who went as well (and I remember being happy that they were all girls I liked). We dressed at her house and she and her sister ended up putting me in 2 inch pumps. I was a clown, so the need for pumps was a little strange. Two of the girls went as Madonna and one as Cindy Lauper. Hey, it was the age and I remember thinking they looked really good.

We headed out, collecting candy from multiple houses...she lived in Hollywood somewhere, so it was good candy, not the $.99 cent kind that has no flavor and gets stuck in your teeth. I remember going to one particular house that must have been a mansion! The lady was beautiful and gracious, requesting that we take as much as we wanted from her huge caldron of mega-sized candy bars. Later, we were chased by teenagers who thought it would be great to through eggs at the younger kids trick-or-treating. We all got smashed, but not too bad. Tracey's mother cleaned us all up after wards, then we ate whatever goodies she'd made. It was a great night.

Halloween was also the night I met a guy that I saw pretty seriously for a while, we'll call him Daniel. He was the roommate of my girlfriend's boyfriend. (Did you get that ?) We were juniors in high school, while they were freshmen in college. Major league! I had just come home from work (I was a cat that year - leotard, tights, ears, tail and long satin gloves). I was working it...damn, was I brave. Many of my guests had already arrived, by the time I'd made it home. My mother had agreed to a coed party with all the guys needing to vacate by 3:00am. We were about half and half with the boy to girl ratio. When my girlfriend's (we'll call her Crystal) boyfriend arrived with his roommate, I was blown away. Super fine and totally unaware of it. We sat next to each other, watching one movie or another when he took my hand and compared it to his. We had the same sized hands. Oh, I was enchanted with him.

As far as Halloween as an adult, it's been lots of fun too. Dressing up my daughter and watching her parade around as her favorite character/person/animal for a day, is a treat in and of itself. We always have pizza on Halloween night and when she returns from trick-or-treating, we both give out candy to all the trick-or-treaters who visit our door. Although the baby won't have a clue what's going on, she'll certainly be adorable in big sister's, hand-me-down Tigger costume.