Halloween: Then and Now

When I was a kid, Halloween meant pulling out the costume box 

from our attic, brushing off the smell of dust, and digging through

the handmade costumes my mom had sewn years earlier.

The Mc Kids. 1983.

I was excited to be a ballerina. My older sister, a clown. 
And my brothers were happily masked and caped as Batman and Superman. 

My mom would paint our faces the best she knew how,
which, sorry Mom, was not the best. 

My mom, sister and I. Halloween 1982.

It meant dressing up like those we aspired to be.


Mary Beth, Brian, Sean and I at the L.A. Children's Museum. 1986.


Halloween meant pumpkin patches, 

pumpkin carving, 

and pumpkin pie. 

It meant staying out after dark, flashlights in hand,

and our mother trailing closely behind as we went from door to door for treats,

and the occasional trick. 

And as my siblings entered the neighborhood haunted houses,
I would stay behind clinging to my mother’s leg.

I was always a chicken.

And eh-hem. . . still am.

Halloween meant pillowcases filled to the brim with candies,

and the disappointment of the intermittent
toothbrush and dental floss from the neighborhood dentist.

It meant being hyped up on candy for a week straight,

until my mom finally took it away,

figuring we had enough sugar in seven days to thoroughly rot our teeth for life.

Halloween meant costume contests at school,

and my friend JoAnna winning every year. 

JoAnna and I. 1991.

When I got older, Halloween meant Halloween parties. 
Less candy.  More beer. 

My brother, King Sean and I, dressed as Geisha. 2005.

It meant staying out late after dark, but this time with no flashlights. . .

. . .and no mother trailing behind.  

As I’ve gotten a little older, graduated college. . .
. . .and the party scene. 

Halloween means laying pretty low.
It means dressing up in simple costumes appropriate for work.

 Me as a 20s girl. 2011.

 It means enjoying a scary movie on the couch with Travis. . .

Yikes!  (I told you, I’m a scaredy cat!)

. . .while eating popcorn and maybe a snack size Snickers or two.  Or three.

OK, but that's it!

  It means answering the door for trick-or-treaters…

. . .and Oooing and Awwing at the neighborhood princesses, ladybugs, and batmen. . .
. . .as our pups nuzzle their noses into their little baby hands,
and want so badly to follow those superheroes to the next doorstep.