Halloween

Halloween has changed a lot since your Grandfather and I were children. I remember your Grandfather telling me about what it was like for him as a little boy. He grew up in downtown Austin around the UT area. All the little old ladies would cook for a week to get ready for Halloween. When going trick or treating he would get all kinds of homemade goodies. There would be cookies, fudge, brownies, candied applies, and popcorn balls. You also got your share of candy and gum. Patrick would tell about, when he got a little older, they would go by the fraternity houses and the guys would give them beer.

My experiences were a little different. You were very sheltered on an Army Post. It was like a small town and you knew just about everyone. The MP's were always out making sure we were safe. There was the time that my father, your Great Grandfather, took me out trick or treating. He would go to the first house on the block with me and he would say "trick or drink". He'd go in and have a drink with the family while I made the rest of the block with my friends. Then I would pick him up and we'd head out for the next block and we would go through the routine again. We both had fun that Halloween. My mother, your Great Grandmother, would make my costumes for me. The advantage of being in the military is that we would move almost every year and I was able to reuse my costumes. One year she made me a complete little Dutch girl outfit. She even made a wig for me out of yellow yarn. She was a very talented seamstress.

I was not that talented so your Mom and Uncle Tom had the store bought costumes. Your mother was a little princess a couple of times and Tom made a darling little devil and Popeye. Your Grandfather loved to dress up in a mask and long coat and go trick or treating with Missy and Tom, while I stayed home handing out candy. He would hide behind bushes and jump out and scare the little kids when they went by.

The first place Tom and Missy would go trick or treating was in their Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood. They lived in the richer neighborhood and they had the best candy. Grandpa would take Missy (by the time Missy went trick or treating Tom was older and wanted to be with his friends) around to all his neighbors while Patrick stayed and visited with Grandma. I remember Missy's first Halloween and how proud Grandpa was to take Missy in her stroller to the neighbors to show her off. When Grandpa and Missy finished their rounds, she and Patrick would head back to our neighborhood and finish the evening going to our neighbors.

The only tradition that we had for Halloween was chili for dinner. My mother always made chili on Halloween night and I did too. That way, your Mom and Uncle Tom could eat before they went trick or treating and Patrick and I could eat whenever we wanted. That was the only way I could guarantee that they had a good meal in them before they started eating candy. Unfortunately, by the time they started trick or treating, we had to go through the candy before they could have any. They were very good about bringing their candy home and letting Patrick and me go through it before they had any. Back in those days there were lots of trick or treaters, so Tom and Missy would go through and pick out the candy they liked and then we would give out the candy they didn't like. Our own kind of recycling.