Halloween

Here is the question, kind of.... remember way back when our children were small and we had to coordinate these Halloween nights? We needed to walk the kiddies through our neighbourhoods AND we needed to light that candle inside our perfectly? carved pumpkins in order to let the trick or treaters know we were home and more than willing to give out candy. Looking back it is easy to recall those exhausting pressurized nights when we tried so hard to be everywhere and to do everything but today, in what appears to be a time span that has run its course quicker thatn the blink of an eye, the children are grown and gone and somehow the urgency to dole out the sugar has faded; or has it? In the rosey glow of a first and second Halloween with no children to costume, we think; well we've paid our dues, we can now breathe easy as we are happily? out of the running, ahead of the Halloween race to get that pumpkin carved and lit, to get those candy bowls filled and to have endless supplies of coins for Unicef. The key word here is 'THINK!!" We do not expect those eerie Halloween pangs of wisfulness to kick in with such an intensity so it comes as a tremendous shock to when we inexplicably find ourselves in the candy aisles of the supermarket buying out a substantial portion of their wares. What is even scarier is how we grab our purchases and sneak off to a friends house to help THEM give out candy. It seems we care little that we have not bought a pumpkin or candy in years, and we find that in fact it is quite like riding a bicycle. We are back where we were always meant to be: answering each and every knock at the door and disregarding our older achy backs as we bend and scoop the loot for a new generation of little ones who may know more than we do about how important it is to have these special occasions to celebrate. So much for getting what you 'think' you wish for.