Halloween
As a young boy, I always looked forward to celebrating Halloween. I was excited about trick or treating as we hopped from one house to another within our village.
More than anything, it was the thought of winning prizes at the Halloween costume contest that got the entire family going. All of the costumes my brothers and I had were hand-made by my Mom and her best friend, who happened to be a fashion designer.
I remember on one occasion, my Mom and her friends made a giant pumpkin for me. The brother who followed me had a similar fruit for a costume. Both our costumes were composed of crepe paper glued over an elaborate wire frame. My youngest brother was dressed in a very creative Peter Pan costume, complete with crepe paper leaves.
Needless to say, my brothers and I would regularly get the top three prizes year after year, to the dismay of the other kids who had expensive of-the-shelf costumes.
After my Mom’s friend would conceptualize a costume, she’d sketch it on a piece of paper. She’d then draw the underlying parts, such as the wireframe and suspension straps to support the frame. After this was done, my Mom and her friend would draw lines on the crepe paper for us to cut. After this was done, the fun of pasting everything together followed.
These costumes were so elaborate and heavy that we had to leave them at home when we went trick or treating. In fact, the pumpkin costume I ended up being placed on top of our front gate’s lights. This had the effect of a lighted pumpkin, signaling that kids could get goodies from us.
This was a ritual my Mom and brothers would go through every year and we never tired of it as kids.
But as we developed in to our teens, the excitement faded for us kids. As boys, we outgrew creating our own costumes, preferring to party with girls our own age instead. Besides, unhappy parents and kids who lost for years were began teasing us because of our age.
Now that I am married, I find myself again looking forward to Halloween. A few years ago, my wife and I decided to revive the Halloween spirit by buying candies. In my first time after a long f hiatus, we ran out of candies to give. And though it felt bad running out of goodies to give, it was heartening to see that kids participating were more than ever.
The year after that, we purchased more candies. We expanded the variety and got more paraphernalia, such as hats for everyone to wear. My in-laws were invited to join in the giving out candies. And my nephew joined in the trick or treating in the village. With everyone pitching, we had the most fun in years. Everyone was laughing and there were so many small incidents to talk about.
The cutest baby, the boy with the scariest costume, the girl with the daintiest costume, the one with the most colorful, and the child with the most unique one, and even the child with the most expensive costume dominated our conversations during dinner. Like Christmas, it was a magical time for both adults and kids.
This year, we have a new addition to the family. And though my niece is just under half a year, we are all excited as to what her costume is going to be. Thoughts range from a little princes to a lovable bear for the day.
God willing, we’ll be able to buy a ton of candies to give out again. And our dog will once more hold the basket of goodies where only the bravest of kids can pick their candies from.
It’s interesting how life is as everything comes in cycles. Looking back, I remember my Mom being very patient with us as we went through our awkward teen years, shunning all of this “mushy” family stuff. But now that we are older, we’ve gotten past our insecurities and now look forward to getting back to family traditions again.
Happy Halloween to everyone this 2009! May this one be as fun for you as it will be for us!