Halloweens Past

Some of my fondest Halloween memories come from my college years. We had good parties, bobbing for apples, and great costumes.

Oh, and also, I was actually ALLOWED TO CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN.

You see, when I was between the ages of 9 and 14, my parents were in their fundamentalist Christian phase, and decreed that my brother and I were not allowed to celebrate Halloween because it was SATAN'S HOLIDAY.

No joke.

One particular Halloween--I believe I was in the fifth grade, prime trick-or-treating age--Halloween fell on a Wednesday. Wednesday was, duh, a church night for us, so we were not out in costume trick-or-treating with our peers (and Satan). Instead, we were learning about church.

Wonderful.

My mom and her friend Sue, feeling bad for all of the kids who were denied the fun of trick-or-treating, bought us a pinata to ease the pain.

(Our pinata was shaped like a donkey or something, but I thought this one was much funnier.)

We kids jumped up and down in excitement--the kind of excitement you experience before the age of 13, when you're somewhat innocent and happy and don't have to pay bills.

And we started clubbing away at that pinata.

Clubbing. . .

Clubbing. . .

Clubbing. . .

Broken. . .

Newspaper?

More newspaper?

Yes, Susan and Susan didn't realize that one must fill the pinata with candy. Pinatas don't come filled with candy. In their infinite wisdom (the same kind of wisdom that tells you that kids can't trick-or-treat lest they be worshipping Satan), they bought a pinata believing that it would already contain candy. Yep. They sure did.

Talk about disappointment. Disillusionment. Resentment. (This happened almost twenty years ago, and I still get mad when I think about it.)

While my schoolmates (who, by the way, also attended Christian school, but somehow were allowed to celebrate Satan's holiday) enjoyed this--

--I just got more angry. But I did get to learn about Jesus!

I was denied the true joyful experience of Halloween, and I've attempted to compensate for it in adulthood. One way of compensation is to have kickass costumes.

Which brings me to this year's Halloween costume. I'm torn between Werewolf Bar/Bas Mitzvah and Edward Scissorhands.

What shall it be?

What are you being for Halloween?