Post-Halloween wrap-up

When I was a kid, I loved Halloween more than Christmas.
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There was something about this holiday that caught me. The spooky, dark side to it simply spoke to me in a way that a fat guy in a red suit who gave out presents never could. That's saying quite a lot as all kids LOVE presents. That whole "better to give than receive" shtick certainly does not apply to a child's worldview.
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In any case, Halloween. The autumnal air. Talk of witches and ghosts. The chance for one night to dress-up in a costume and walk around in the dark. All of these things fully sanctioned by parents and adults. It just seemed to good to be true. The collected candy at the end was simply the bonus.

My brother and I would spend weeks deciding what our costume would be for that particular year. With great aplomb we would announce our choices at the dinner table a few days before the 31st. "This year, I am going to be ........... a WEREWOLF!". We would sit back after our declarations with great satisfaction at the wisdom we had displayed to our parents. Who in turn, would smile and then tell us to eat our green beans.
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And so, this ritual continued until the age of 13 or so. The time when trick-or-treating feels like the stuff of little kids and no longer appeals. We had a window of about 8 years or so when it did, but although we all end up retiring our candy bags eventually, the allure of Halloween stays with me to this day. I still love it all.
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This year was the first time I took my own children out trick-or-treating. Another great wheel in the cycle of life has turned.

Being twins, they both wore the same costume. Not so much because they wanted to, but being the incredibly wise parents that we are (said with tongue firmly stuck in cheek), we realized that at this age if the boys had different costumes then they would inevitably squabble over one of them. So, they were both Spiderman. A good first costume though I would say.
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The night arrived and I moved through the same motions that my parents, and their parents before them, have always done. We lit the candle in the pumpkin, we put their costumes on them, and gave them their candy bags. We all set off into the night.
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Now, since the boys are still not even 3 years old, I thought it would take some serious coaching to tell them what to do when they got to someone's door. "OK boys, knock on the door, shout "Trick or treat!", and open your bag. When you get your candy make sure to say thank you!". I assumed I would be conducting this coaching throughout the night. Well .....
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I suppose that when highly sugared sweets are involved, the learning process takes root very, very quickly. I had to run through the whole trick-or-treating process with my children the sum total of .... once. Man, they got it all very quickly.
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We tramped through the night. My wife and I drank wine as we shepherded (it's a word, I actually looked it up) our sons from house to house. When it was time to finish, we guided our little Spidermen home, took off their costumes, and put them to bed.
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I can't wait for next year.

America

I woke up this morning to a different country.

A country that spoke its voice, made a decision, and changed history for everyone. The world feels different right now. Indeed, a feeling of hope now exists where there was once only confusion, frustration, and a kind of darkness. The 44th President that is Barack Obama symbolizes many things. It's about more than just one man, but he does carry all of our expectations, and some incredible responsibility sits squarely on his shoulders.

Who is to say how this story will unfold. Perhaps the status quo of politics will mire the message that inspired so many people as his term carries on, but suffice to say, our country changed overnight. A change that I am overjoyed to raise my sons within. They are too little right now to understand what has happened, but years from now, I can point to this day and say that they were alive when their country decided on a different course to follow.

The words aren't coming out right now as well as I'd like them. It's all a bit overwhelming.

So, essentially what I want to say is that for the first time, in a long time, I am proud of America.