I love Halloween. I love the lights, the decorations, the costumes, and most of all, the trick-or-treating.
I love the excitement as the sun sets. I love how the kids start off with empty pillowcases and high hopes to fill them with candy. I love the Jack O’ Lanterns, whether expertly or simply carved.
I love the Halloween makeup and face paint. I love the inflatable costumes, including those I saw at the “No Kings” rallies. On Halloween, I love the little princesses and Taylor Swifts. I love the soccer players and Power Rangers. I love the teenagers who are just in it for the candy. I especially love the homemade costumes.
I love the magic of ringing the doorbell. I love the little bowls left by the front steps. I love the neighbor who has water available for trick-or-treaters. I love the extravagance of the neighbor who passes out full-sized candy bars.
I love my fellow parents and caregivers who trail behind their kids. I adore the empty-nesters and grandparents who stand at the door and hand out candy. I love it when they pretend to be frightened by a little lion’s growl or a spooky witch’s cackle. I love to imagine what it will be like when I am in their shoes.
I love Halloween, yet my heart is also heavy this year. Hurricane Melissa caused horrific damage in Jamaica and Cuba. The U.S. federal government shutdown will cause 42 million Americans, including many children, to lose food assistance the day after Halloween. Whether the storms are political or natural, the pain and suffering are real.
What I most love, then, about Halloween is the empathy. People literally dress up as other people, both real and fictional. We open our neighborhoods and answer our doors to complete strangers. We pass out treats, no questions asked. What if we imagined the victims of hurricanes as our neighbors? What if we imagined hungry children as trick-or-treaters, as our children and grandchildren? What would our community, country and world be like if we practiced that kind of moral imagination all year long?
I love Halloween. I hope the love will continue to inspire us.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
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