Blast From The Past

For whatever reason, I have always LOVED Halloween. Not the origin or the deeper meaning of the holiday or anything like that. I am talking about the consumer candy and costume aspect of the day. I love the cool fall weather. The colorful leaves on the trees. The orange and black that covers the houses of those equally enthusiastic about the spooky event. Pumpkins on front porches. The horror movies that conquer cable during the month of October. All of it, I LOVE it. Everyone in my family does! As far back as I can remember, trick or treating was an EVENT at our house. First came the costumes. Lots of thought went into these outfits each year. My earliest memory of Halloween is glancing into the mirror after an hour of my mom and dad putting smelly makeup on my face. I don't know what I expected to see, but when I saw a creepy green witch face with a huge crooked nose and an animal of a wart sitting on top like a cherry on a sundae, I went CRAZY! They actually had to remove my makeup! Looking back and recalling those two young parents staring at my face with pride as they created a masterpiece--I know I got my love of Halloween honest. We would walk through the suburban neighborhoods of Laurel feeling our heart skip a beat every time there was a porch light on. Ah, the porch light. It was like a neon "OPEN" sign inviting trick or treaters to stop by for some sugary goodness. Of course, my parents were in the car, driving along side of us. We never wanted the night to end. When it was time to head home, we would fantasize about what was waiting for us inside our pumpkin candy buckets. The ride home was hard. Burned into my nostrils to this day, is the yummy and unique smell of the inside of my candy bucket. The smell of plastic mixed with chocolate and fall. When we FINALLY made it home, we would dump our candy in the living room floor. This was the ritual. Mom would "CHECK" our candy. Because of this day and age, we were not allowed to have anything homemade or anything that appeared to be open. Of course "checking our candy" was also code for "PICK OUT ALL OF OUR CARAMELS". Caramels were (and are) mom's most favorite sweet treat. After our candy passed inspection, we would eat 'till our tummies felt yucky. There were no restrictions on Halloween. The following morning was one of three mornings (Christmas and Easter are the other two) that we were allowed to eat junk before breakfast. What great memories.

I have tried to pass this love of Halloween down to my girls. Until this year, I didn't really have a child old enough to "get it". But buddy, they "got it" this year! From the decorations that cover my living room and front porch to the Halloween coloring sheets and art activities we have done, and ESPECIALLY the costumes and candy---they fell in love with Halloween this year. We only trick or treated at about 5 places. Just close friends and family, but it was enough! We had a great time (especially me)!

BumbleBee is SUPER excited. Optimus wouldn't slow down for a pic.

Unlike at the festival, where the girls greeted people with "what ya got?" I actually got them to say "trick or treat" then "thank you".

I'm telling ya, those self serve  candy bowls don't have a chance when my girls come around....

Mom has never got alot of trick or treaters on Halloween, though she has always wanted them to stop by. So this year, my SIL Jamina invited folks to stop by via Facebook. Mom had a great turn out. 

I'm pretty sure most of mom's candy went into autobot buckets. (She didn't mind)

We also went to my dad's house, Michael's aunts house and his parent's house....Unfortunately my camera went dead before I could get any good pics.

When we got home I did "the ritual": I "checked the candy". There weren't many, but I found a few special pieces of candy that I set aside for a very special person. Today, I went to the chemo room and surprised mom with her favorite sweet treat, caramels.

At her appt yesterday, Dr. Penland told us about another patient of hers that is in mom's situation. He is 16 mos into his diagnosis, (that's right 16 mos!) and the chemo he is taking (the same as mom) has kept the cancer under control for 20 weeks and counting! I liked this story. It was definitely inspiring. Unfortunately, Mom wasn't doing too good today. She slept until chemo, during chemo, and all day after chemo. I don't like to see her like this. So, I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup and took her a HUGE bowl of it. I flatter myself to think my chicken noodle soup is a cure-all, so she should be feeling great tomorrow. (If only it REALLY worked that way). She has a scan on Friday to check and see how the radiation did and how the new chemo is fighting the cancer. I am trying to not think about it too much. Please pray for my mom.

Halloween was a great escape from the current circumstances. It allowed us to dive into some nostalgia and forget all the bad stuff, if only for a short time. It's not everyday that we get to time travel.  But we were all kids again yesterday. 

What's better to a kid than a giant pile of candy?

The memory of receiving the candy......(speaking from experience)