When I was a little girl, we didn’t have many trick-or-treaters since we lived in a very rural area. But there would be a few, and I recall Mom making homemade fudge and wrapping it in wax paper to hand out on Halloween. This was, of course, in the days before zip-lock sandwich bags (and evil folks putting bad things in candy).
But the Halloween that I was seven was a turning point. Mom had severely broken her ankle that summer and was still in a cast and using crutches in October. I was afraid of my own shadow, so there was no way I was going to go to the door. So Mom did what you’re supposed to do: our porch light was off and our curtains were drawn. The next morning, we discovered that someone had ‘keyed’ her car.
To say I had a difficult time in school would be putting it mildly. These days it’s called bullying: back then it was ‘teasing’. These days there is probably counseling for those affected: back then, victims just had to deal with it and hopefully, eventually move on. When I was probably an adolescent/early teen, some younger PUNKS on the bus created a name for me and even wrote a song. Believe me, it was not a good thing. Listening to that on the long bus ride to school every morning did nothing to get my day started in a good way. And hearing it on the afternoon ride just made getting home and off that bus even sweeter.
One Halloween, during this time, one of those PUNKS painted that name on the highway in front of our driveway. And yes, I had to get on the bus that morning to the sound of their taunting laughter. Mom called VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation) as soon as possible to come paint over their ‘artwork’.
BUT, once Marshall was old enough to trick-or-treat, those old Halloween memories were put on the back burner. We had fun coming up with ideas for his costume, and I enjoyed making them.
And in recent years, I’ve enjoyed dressing up for Halloween.
Fun lunches with friends:
And to ride with my friends on their gorgeous horses.
But Motor Man and I are Halloween scrooges and never give out candy. We keep our porch light off and all our curtains drawn to let the kids know that we aren’t participating.
Last night, around 6:30 (nearly dark), we heard someone at our door. We didn’t answer. This was our Ring camera footage:
If your speakers are on, you can hear one of them say something similar to: “they aren’t giving out candy; they’re probably already in bed.”
PUNKS.
~These Days Of Mine~
these days of mine 