Halloween-Lite

"There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls."
~George Carlin

It is Halloween and darkness is descending. I've finished my supper of chili and French bread and am now waiting for the first trick-or-treater to arrive. Ordinarily, I make a big deal out of Halloween. In another year I would have been dressed in my long black dress with my face painted a goulish white with some spots of green and black decay, but not this year. With Geraldine's sister so gravely ill, it didn't feel right to me to make light of death. So this year, I'm doing Halloween-Lite.

My pumpkins are on the porch and the candles are lit but unlike in past years, there are no ghosts hanging in the trees and no spiderwebs blanketing the bushes. I've filled twenty-five treat bags but I have candy for another forty or fifty kids if I need it. It's hard to guess how many to expect. The first year we lived in this house, we had fifty kids come to the door. Last year we had only eight. Either way, there is enough. The children who do come are from other neighbourhoods. Their parents drop them off by the van load to trick-or-treat at the end of our quiet cul-de-sac. Our neighbourhood is aging and the mix of the immigrant population is changing. Many of our neighbours don't celebrate Halloween so their houses are dark. Not all the kids dropped off at the end of the street will bother to pass the dark houses to get to ours. It doesn't matter. Tomorrow I will bundle whatever candy is left and send it with Geraldine as treats for the kids at the elementary school where she works. I've made sure everything is nut fee so it can safely go to the school.

I'm hoping Geraldine and Dora will drop by so I can see Dora in her Halloween costume. I have a special treat bag already packed for her. I made sure to restock my supply of her favourite dog biscuits. I also bought a treat for Geraldine so she has a special bag of her own. Geraldine loves candy corn and I'm trying hard to find little ways to cheer her up. These are dark days for Ger and her family. I'm hoping even small kindnesses will help.