Trick-or-treating memories resurface

Happy Halloween. Have you had enough candy yet? Do you know what the different colored pumpkins mean? Many of the trick or treaters are carrying plastic pumpkins in orange, teal, purple, pink and probably a whole lot of other colors, each dedicated to a specific cause.

I realize that people are simply trying to make the world safer for their children, but whatever happened to grabbing an old pillowcase to hold the treats? I suppose that is no longer an option.

I used to like seeing all the kids dressed up and begging for candy. I always felt bad for the one older couple who would give out apples. There were always warnings about sick people who would put needles or razor blades in apples. The options were to take it to a nearby hospital to be X-rayed to determine that the apples were safe to eat. 

Most people didn’t take the chance and the apples went straight into the trash.

The next day the newspaper would say that no harmful objects had been found. We had scared our children for nothing.

My grandchildren used to wear their costumes for months after Halloween. When we would visit one or the other of them would hand us a costume with the demand to put it on them. Now they are too big for that.

This doesn’t mean that they don’t get into the spirit of the holiday. Emma seems to have gone wild with makeup. The last picture I have of her, she looks truly scary. I am waiting to see if she applies her talents to her little brothers.

I grew up in the country and only went trick or treating one year. I went with my cousin in Ithaca, a friend from school in Verona, and a different girlfriend in Lewisburg. That was the only year I can remember celebrating the day.

Once I grew up and had my daughter, her dad took her out begging while I handed out candy at home. I ran out of candy about the same time the neighbors did. We sent her hubby to the store for more treats. He came back with the last two boxes of full-sized Hershey bars.

When my hubby and I lived in Goshen, Ohio, we lived on a dead-end street. That was the year that the people at the end of the street made their own costumes and also dressed up the dog. We also had a dog, and I put a dog bone in the sack the neighbor’s dog carried.

When we first moved here I looked forward to handing out candy. That first year we had about a dozen kids and more than a dozen adults. These weren’t teens enjoying one last Halloween. These were full-grown adults. That was the last time I handed out candy at home.

The bad thing about not handing out candy is that there is none left over at the end of the night. The good thing about not handing out candy is that there is none left over at the end of the night.

It would be nice if Halloween marked the end of scary things. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. People seem determined to hurt other people. I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t conflict somewhere in the world.

May costumed children wanting treats be the scariest things in your world today.