A Good Halloween

I can remember some folks that made Halloween special when I was a child. The folks in the community of Parkertown, knew how to make you feel special.

It was wonderful to get a homemade treat from the ladies in the neighborhood. I looked forward to a bag of homemade Chex Mix from Mrs. Gladys that I’m sure she had slow baked for hours in preparation for her Halloween guests. Or a bag of her brownies. She was one of a kind.

And it was such a treat to go to Mrs. Maggie’s house. She always had sugar cane, cut into bite size pieces, placed in bags, fresh from her garden. I couldn’t wait to get that cane, peel back the brown outer covering, and chew all of that sweet goodness from the tough, stringy inside, before finding a place to spit it out.

Oranges, apples, bananas and nuts of all kinds, filled my bag after visiting Mrs. Lucille and Mr. Henry.

There were so many fine folks in our close knit community. Mrs. Mary and Mr. Neal, Mrs. Johnnie B. and Mr. Red, Mrs. Minnie Mae and Mr. Maynard, Mrs. Lola and Mr. Roland, Mrs. Myrtie, Mrs. Lucille, Mrs. Alice and so many more.

There was no fear. No danger.

It was a simple time when you didn’t have to go to the hospital to get your candy

x-rayed. You could eat something homemade from a neighbor. You didn’t have to worry about a predator.

You didn't have to worry about anything except for ghosts and goblins.

Children, I'm sorry it's not that way any more. It makes me sad. You don't know what a special time you missed.

From the mind of me.