When I think of Halloween and fall in general, the first thing that always comes to mind is candy. It seems like nowadays the fall festivities consist of hourly runs to Starbucks for Pumpkin Spice lattes and planning group costumes with the besties. But growing up, times were much simpler, and a little sweeter.
So when I think of my favorite Halloween memory, I think about picking through hordes of candy with my little brother. Growing up, my family didn’t celebrate Halloween and I wasn’t allowed to go trick or treating. But my parents weren’t rotten old meanies who kept me locked inside every October 31st never to go door to door with pillowcases eager for candy; instead they cut out the middleman.
Let’s be honest, as a kid Halloween is all about the candy and my parents understood that. So usually a couple days before Halloween, my family would make a trip to our local grocery store and stock up on all the candy we wanted. Sure it may not have been as exciting as dressing up and it was always tough to explain to my friends how I wasn’t allowed to go along with them and trick or treat, but they sure were jealous when I’d tell them how much candy I got and how little time I’d spent getting it.
As I got older I realized how great it was to not have to be in an uncomfortable costume for 2 or 3 hours going door to door hoping that you ended up with your favorite candies and not a toothbrush or a healthy snack like some neighbors gave out. Plus I live right by Lake Ontario so typically by October 31st it’s about 40 degrees outside, so it was definitely a bonus to sit by my nice warm fireplace in my PJ’s watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and enjoying all the candy I wanted.
Right around the time I was 14, my parents decided that it wasn’t so harmful to allow me to trick or treat. But by that point it was kind of uncool to go trick-or-treating and I had already been tricking the system long enough that I didn’t even want to go. I vividly remember that Halloween being freezing cold and raining all night long but I had all the Kit Kat, Crunch Bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups I wanted to keep me warm.