Scarier than Halloween
Halloween is such a fun time in my neighborhood. When we moved to this house, we stopped looking for local harvest festivals because we had the same kind of fun being at home. Not everybody understands it, but there is something fantastically joyous about giving hundreds of pieces of candy away to smiling little faces who could be going anywhere to trick or treat but just happen to be going to your front door. It brings out the whimsical child in all of us.
At some point, when COVID numbers were down and things were opening up, we thought it might be possible to still go out and trick or treat safely. After all, it may have been the safest holiday to participate in considering we’d be wearing masks and walking outside. We had hoped so, anyway. Then, it became very clear that this wasn’t going to be the case. As El Paso’s COVID numbers started to rise again, Halloween was shut down for good reasons.
It’s true that our numbers are not good. We are still very much in the middle of the storm and it seems to be getting worse. But since there are a lot of reasons to be filled with worry and sadness, I felt that costumes, candy, and fun at home were still in good order.
There are times (especially this year) when there are a lot of reasons to get down. But sometimes when there is a lot to be sad about, I have to find reasons to celebrate and have fun. One of my favorite quotes comes from the film Jojo Rabbit. In the film set in WWII, life is a tragic disaster when Jojo’s mom, Rosie, reminds him that, “Life is a gift. We must celebrate it. We have to dance to show God we are grateful to be alive.”
And I agree.
So safely and with gratitude in our hearts, we celebrated.
As Bella was walking out the door for our little photoshoot, she said, “I’m so glad we started doing this.” She was referring to the way we had embraced the fun of Halloween by creating more elaborate costumes and having yearly photoshoots in the front yard. It was all I needed to hear from my introverted girl that day. The child who has had an entirely different junior year without any friends or music concerts. The one that could easily be “too cool” for dressing up and who is often saying no to things that involve too much fuss. She could have easily sat it out. We all could have this year. We would have had every reason to do less, but we chose to do more.
Listen, I know it’s not pretty out there. We now know many people who have contracted COVID. We know of people who have lost their loved ones. We are sometimes holding our breaths in anticipation of bad news. But you know what’s scarier than Halloween for me? It’s a life without something to celebrate. It’s getting so low that you forget how to dance.
