Halloween should be a National Holiday!!

Hello All.
Hope you like the above picture of my brother Kira.

Our family spent so many Halloweens going out
TRICK OR TREATING

I mean my MAMA
loves this holiday.

TRICK OR TREATING
meant
DRESSING UP,
RUNNING AROUND IN THE DARK,
THE SMELL OF DRIED MAPLE AND OAK LEAVES,
WAFTING UP
AS SHE AND HER BROTHERS
RAN AROUND KICKING
LEAVES UP EVERYWHERE.
GOING TO NEIGHBORS AND BEGGING AT THE DOOR FOR CANDY
(very cool).

Then she spent the next week
DIGGING FOR TREASURE,
AS SHE
DUG THROUGH HER BAG
AND
ATE
EVERY
SINGLE
PIECE.

I mean she loved it.

She told me that she would start
with the
BEST OF THE BEST IN HER BAG.

That would
OF COURSE
be the
CHOCOLATE,
THEN THE
CHOCOLATE,
THEN THE
WELL,
YOU GET IT.
It was like
GRAZING IN THE GRASS.

I mean, she would collect a brown paper shopping bag
full of candy.
And then spend the next week,
EVERY SINGLE DAY,
grazing through that bag.

It was sublime.

And when she became a grammie,
well, she and PAPA
would go with
Auntie Kelly and take the
grand kids out into the
DARK NIGHT OF A OCTOBER SKY
AND SHE LOVED
EVERY
SINGLE
BIT OF THOSE EXPERIENCES.

They would go trick or treating
IN THE SNOW,
IN THE RAIN,
ON BEAUTIFUL NIGHTS
AND THOSE
WHERE WINTER WAS SCREAMING,
JUST AROUND THE CORNER,
I AM HERE,
I AM HERE.

She told me more than once that as a child
there would be snowstorms
BEFORE HALLOWEEN,
I MEAN,
ARE YOU KIDDING?
And that in order to
GO
TRICK OR TREATING
AT HER AUNTS NEXT DOOR,
SHE AND HER BROTHERS
WOULD HAVE TO SHOVEL A FOOT OR TWO OF SNOW,
DOWN THIS LONG, LONG PATH
DOWN THE BACK OF THE YARD,
JUST TO GET TO HER AUNT ANNA'S HOUSE.
YOWZA.

Perhaps it was because of those
MANY
MANY
MANY
HALLOWEENS RUNNING AROUND IN THE DARK,
THAT OCTOBER REMAINS,
Mama's
ABSOLUTE FAVORITE MONTH.

Mama and Kira when he was young.
October 1995

And so I hope you all have enjoyed my story.
Dharma Dharma

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