Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

My favorite holiday, not for what it is, but what it was. As holidays have become more commercial, the charm of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas lies, for me, in nostalgia.

October 31st always has started the magic rolling. Halloween was the only night we were allowed to walk the streets. That in itself was exhilarating. Add to that being dressed in costume and believing that if we looked up at the moon, there was a good chance we’d see the silhouette of a witch flying on her broomstick. Owls hooted and ghosts loomed—if only in our imaginations. Scarecrows could come to life. Bats could erupt in a dance of shadows.

I was the youngest of nine siblings. My mother, who would die on Christmas week in 1968 when I only seven, loved decorating our humble home for each of the holidays. While I don’t remember much about her, I hold onto that.

The decorations were not like they are now. They were simple and few, but in a world with less trappings, they spoke wonders and kind…