Remember when we were kids around this time? We’d tap our feet impatiently and stare at the clock in pure anticipation, wishing with all we had that school would just end. Who cares about learning how to make our cursive "s" just so? That can wait until tomorrow. Today is Halloween.
When the final bell rang, we would burst out of the school doors and rush home, the soft October breeze rustling the colored leaves and reddening our cheeks just a little. We had that feeling in our stomachs we couldn’t even begin to describe, and it grew with every step.
Not willing to wait, we quickly threw on our costumes; hoping that, by doing so, Halloween night would come faster. We couldn’t sit still, and who could blame us? Today is Halloween, a day for kids, like we were once.
The next couple of hours were a fantastic blur. Convincing our parents to let us go trick-or-treating before the sun even set, the cold air, that feeling of excitement and fear as the skeletons and monsters loomed in the dark, and of course, the candy.
Our fondest memories are from sitting at home after a long night of trick-or-treating, spilling our loot on the floor, admiring our "hard" work, and trading with our brothers and sisters, making sure to form a collection of our favorite sweets. Then we would go to bed with smiles plastered on our faces that were just a tad sticky. Today was Halloween, surely the best day of our lives.
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Unfortunately, one day we realize that feeling in our stomachs starts to wear off. No more going crazy with anticipation; no racing home and throwing on our costume; no more trick-or-treating. That feeling of not being able to stop smiling and the presence of magic soon disappears.
Of course we still have fun on Halloween, but it isn’t the same. We long to have that feeling again, that innocence, but we aren’t able to find it. Because once we were kids, and now we are adults.
It’s not just Halloween of course; all our childhood fairytales soon disappear. First, we learn that the Tooth Fairy isn’t real, when we awaken to find our parents sneaking into our rooms with a handful of quarters. Next, the Easter Bunny waves goodbye. And then, the thing that changed Christmas forever: the discovery of Santa’s nonexistence. One by one, the magic begins to dissolve into thin air.
That’s the thing about growing up, we grow up. We have to dismiss that fragile innocence, even if we try with all our might to hold on. Our memories serve us well, however, as we look back and smile at what silly youngsters we once were, especially on days like today.
We can’t go back, can’t hold on to the past. But hopefully as the years pass we can bring along a hint of our make-belief imagination and our Halloween whimsy, if only to help us through those difficult adult days.
