Every September, when stores begin setting up Halloween aisles and seasonal costume shops start popping up all over town, I get excited.
Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. Most people assume it’s because it is also my birthday, but there’s a lot more to it.
I think I love Halloween because of the memories and traditions I associate with it. It is a holiday focused on having fun. I mean, what other time of year is it acceptable to spend an evening dressed as someone or something else and eat as much candy as you can without throwing up?
So, this year, as I get another year older, and I hope another year wiser, I am reflecting on all the Halloween traditions that make the season great.
As a child, I remembered the magical day at the beginning of October when I would come home from school to find my mom had climbed into the attic and retrieved the boxes of Halloween decorations. We would spend the rest of the afternoon hanging up pumpkin lights, filling up the ghost candy dish that plays scary music when you reach for a Snickers and the jack-o-lantern punch bowl and matching cups.
A week later, my mom would take our final costume requests and frantically begin sewing to meet the Oct. 31 deadline. I think my all-time favorite was the Rapunzel costume, consisting of a shiny pink dress and braided floor-length wig of yellow yarn that my parents stayed up half the night finishing.
During the Halloween season, carving pumpkins was a family activity. It was during this time I realized my favorite part of the activity wasn’t actually carving but digging out the seeds from inside the pumpkin and slinging them into the trashcan.
After all this preparation, the day would finally arrive, and I would wake up to a Halloween-themed birthday cake and a table full of presents.
Often, people only focus on Christmas or Thanksgiving traditions, but when I think back on the holidays, my favorite memories are of traditions our family established for Halloween.
Saturday marks my third Halloween away from my family. Unlike Christmas and Thanksgiving, we don’t get a long break – or even the day off – to spend time with our families, so I decided I would have to start some Halloween traditions of my own.
I’ve spent the past two years collecting Halloween decorations and slinging pumpkin guts with friends. This year, I went to Target and bought the exact same pumpkin lights I remember from my childhood.
Traditions keep family memories alive and help families remember the fun times they have had. Halloween is a fun holiday that produces fun memories, which, hopefully, will be remembered for a lifetime.
