Happy Halloween!

The air is crisp and there is a smell of pumpkins and candle wax in the air tonight.
I love Halloween!
In America, it is a night to go haunting your neighbourhood and visit neighbours you do not get to see every day.
As you walk with your little ones, who run haphazardly up sidewalks in order to be first to the door, you recall the times when you were young and the excitement you had doing the very same things your children are now experiencing. Ah, the memories!
As an older adult, we now see our grandchildren reliving those days as our grown-up children walk with them. And so it goes.

I can recall one Halloween night I was out alone with my younger brother. We were very young - maybe 9 and 11 years old, or younger. But in those days, parents allowed kids to go out alone - it was not unsafe. Some older kids grabbed my brother's treat bag and ran off with it. He stood there in shock not being able to say a word and then when he did, he simply let out a yowl and cried.
I insisted he remain right there and ran after the kids who took it. You know what they say about adrenalin in times of need? I cannot believe how fast I ran. It was like I had the wind behind my back. I caught up with the kids, and tore the sack from their hands and ran back to my brother who was still in the exact spot I had left him.
I marvel at how I had the courage to do that. The kids were older than us and much bigger. I think I surprised them, too, and they were caught off-guard and so hadn't the reaction time to do anything about it.
Tim and I headed back home after that. We had had enough excitement for one evening.

My first year in Birmingham, we had dozens of children come calling at our door and I was thrilled to see them. I had been led to expect not-too-much in the way of ghosts and goblins, being told this tradition was not as big in the UK as it is in America.
But last year and this year, we had only a handful of children calling out, "Trick or Treat" and I am wondering if the kids who were here the 1st year are now to old to come round, or if they have moved, or if parents are too afraid to allow them out with so much bad out there these days.
I do hope the tradition continues to live on. It is so much fun for the kids and so much fun for the adults, too.


Katie carved our pumpkin for us today and we made up treat pouches just like my mom made when we were little. I didn't have the same candies in them, but the meaning is the same; traditions carried on from mother to daughter, generation to generation.
Make your traditions memorable and all the best to you, too.

Boo!
Maggie

The Comforts of Childhood

My mother moved quietly around the bed, carefully selecting bits of the blanket to gently push beneath me, tucking me in for the night.

A chill was in the air, and even though I could have bundled myself off to bed for the night, there was something so special in knowing that someone else was there caring for me, and making sure I was warm, and loved, as I drifted off to sleep for the night.
We took those days for granted, and our childhood is now but a blink in time and a soft, loving, memory we look back on.

When my own children were small, I used to fight the battle all parents fight; with children who want to grow up, all too fast.
They were teased when collecting trading cards that their peers thought they were too old to collect; and young girls exchanged doll dresses and imagination, for make-up and trendy fashions.

I would remind them that they would have only one shot at being a child and they would have their whole to be lived as adults and to do adult things. I begged them to do as they pleased, to play with their toys and dolls as long as they could, and to ignore taunts from others less informed on the ways of youth.

I suppose those sentiments offered little comfort in those pressure-filled days, of wanting to be included in the 'popular' crowd, with kids who were constantly trying to be someone they weren't.

I wanted my kids to be true to who they were and not try to be like everyone else.
And I wanted them to always remember they were loved and wanted for themselves, and not for what they might do or not do, when they grew up and went out into the world.

I wanted them to have the little comforts life offers - like being tucked in at night by a mother who wanted them to feel snug and secure and loved.

This morning, as I was making our bed, I thought about my husband who was off at work and how hard life can be when we get older. He ushers in his day at 4:30 am and sets off in the wee, dark hours of the morning while most of our neighbours are still asleep.
He works so hard every day.

Just last night, there was a chill in the air. And as he finished dressing himself for the day, he walked around the bed, carefully tucking me in, repeating, "Go back to sleep, love," several times.

A little bit of my childhood came drifting back to me . . . and I was wrapped in warm memories of days long ago and comforted in knowing that love still can happen at any age.