Do you remember when you were a little kid, and you thought you could be anything you wanted when you grew up? You could be an astronaut, or a doctor, or president. And then Halloween would come, and your parents would help you pick out the perfect costume for who you wanted to be that year, and you tried to wear it every single day for a month. You'd go out with your friends on a chilly autumn evening and grow ups would smile at you as they placed candy in your little plastic pumpkin bucket. The night was an envelope around the perfect picture of a community that supported your dreams to be whoever or whatever you wanted with delicious treats.
And then you grew up a little. The candy wasn't such a big deal anymore, but the costume started to get infinitely more intricate. You wanted to be your favorite character on some obscure TV show or some legendary protagonist from a book, and you hoped everyone would get it. Or you wanted to dress like a banana because why not? And everyone laughed, so you started wearing the banana costume to parties, because one day just wasn't enough. Or maybe you just wanted to dress like the slutty version or absolutely anything, because it was so different from your real personality and it was the one day you could get away with it. Pretty much every girl did that at least once. In any case, you went to ten different stores to find every piece of the perfect costume, and you spent way too much money, but it was always worth it.
Flash forward again, and now you have a significant other and a new little baby. So you dress as The Joker, Harley Quinn, and a tiny Batman. Or maybe you don't dress up at all, but you make your baby into a baby Harry Potter, or a baby mermaid, because you never really let go of those fantasies, and you want to share them with your new bundle of joy. You put so much time and effort into their costume, but you know they'll probably just spit up on it. The most important thing as that you have a new adventure, and many more years of amazing Halloweens ahead of you.
Your children start to grow up, and you see the same excitement in them that you had when you were their age. You help them prepare their costumes with joy, and then you drink beers and laugh with the other parents while you watch your kids go up to the neighbors houses the way you did. You teach them to carve pumpkins and you decorate your new house. And the magic is still there, even if you know who you're going to be when you grow up. You already are that person.
Maybe some years you'll still dress like a lady bug or a TV character. Maybe you won't do anything at all, but you'll open your door for the people who do, and you'll give them candy and a smile when you see their delighted faces. And that sense of community is always there, no matter how much the world has changed. Because no matter how many years have gone by, you're still that little astronaut, or doctor, or banana, or Batman. Because Halloween never changes, even when you do. So have a good one.
