Halloween

This year I allowed the boys two tries at this Halloween gig…what I got was a gigantic bag o’ treats and nowhere to hide them all. Seriously, these boys got enough goodies to sustain them until NEXT Halloween. I’m thinking of donating it to the office junk food basket because 1. they don’t need all this candy, and 2. if it sits in my house I’ll be completely tempted to partake in all that sugary goodness…that I do NOT need.

Trick or Treat #1 was with the boys’ father and for all intents and purposes the night went well enough. I somehow got roped in to walking around with them, and for the most part it was ok. Trick or Treat #2 was in Franklin, and this by far made up for Trick or Treat #1. I love getting “home” and roaming the streets of Franklin, particularly on Halloween. I must say the people of this fair town really get into the spirit of the holiday. There were a number of houses Jacob simply deemed “too scary” to trick or treat at, but made me smile at the hard work and thought that went into giving all the trick or treaters more bang for their buck, er, well, you know what I mean…since it’s all free, ha ha!

This time of year brings back fond memories of my own childhood trick or treating experiences, however, most were spent in Oil City, rather than Franklin. My great-aunt Mary (aka Peanut) would dress up every year and walk around with all of us for Trick or Treat (and I believe she was well into her 60’s – 70’s when she was doing this). The miles we covered on Pollock Hill (as it is known to some) seems unfathomable to most. We worked hard for our candy and were greatly rewarded. There were always the houses to avoid (because the Hells Angels lived there) or the lady who gave out Necco wafers (gag), and of course the customary stop at a long ago closed candy store in my aunt’s neighborhood. We would peer into the windows and dream of long gone days when the store was open. The bright red, leather seated stools that had since lost their shine, the racks where chocolates, Swedish fishes and gumballs once were proudly displayed, now covered with cobwebs and dustbunnies. But for that brief moment, if only in our minds, the store was alive again. We could picture kids having a seat at the bar sampling the latest goodies or roaming from aisle to aisle with pennies in hand ready to spend. It seems sad that my own children will never really have an experience like that, as time and progress have made such stores a thing of the past. Even I never really had this experience, but saw it through my mother’s and my aunt’s eyes.

Ahh memories.