I, for one, could skip this day....

This won’t be a surprise to those that know me but those that don’t, here comes a shocker. With every ounce of my being, I dislike Halloween. It scares me. I’m a big baby when it comes to Halloween. I wanted to discourage it with Elijah. I wanted it to be the one “holiday” (if you want to call it that) that we didn’t partake in. For several years, I almost made it. For his first Halloween, he was a bumble bee. It was adorable and that’s the only reason I did it. We live in the country - the opportunity to skip it was everywhere. People don’t trick-or-treat where I live. For many years after that, until Elijah entered kindergarten, we were able to ignore it altogether. Then he was a pirate, a Transformer, a Storm Trooper and this year, Darth Vader. I took him costume shopping for the first time. Generally, I find out what he wants, order it online and take him to church for the festivities. This was a huge mistake on my part as his mother. His eyes were opened to the horrors of Halloween (I dislike that my program automatically capitalizes the word, it doesn’t deserve that much respect) costumes. He saw the dark side. The gory side. The sadistic side. I was frightened for myself, for him and the sleepless nights that lay ahead. I had just recently cancelled his ability to check out the Goosebumps books from the school library. His vivid imagination could not take it. He pretended to be okay with it, read the book silently in his room, berated me with questions, then took the book back explaining to his teacher that he couldn’t finish it. I can’t handle Halloween. Elijah has received the gift of his vibrant imagination from ME, his mother. The one that birthed him also gave him the wimpy attribute that doesn’t allow you to watch horror movies, sleep in a dark room or walk aimlessly through a house, forest or school full of people and obstacles placed there to frighten you. I’m a wimp. I admit it freely. Big deal, I like cheery things. I like sweet, sappy movies with happy endings. I like sunshine, warm days and rainbows. Now, back to the costume shopping and the day that I thought I had surely ruined Elijah.

“Mooooommmmaaa.” He said to me, drawing it out in shock.

“What?” I asked.

“Death.” He said the word slowly. “Why would anyone want to be death?” He pointed to the costume, a long black gown, dark mask with glowing eyes and a sickle. “Is that really death?”

“No, Elijah. No, it isn’t. Our "death" is in Heaven, surrounded by Jesus and God and all our family members that have passed before us. It’s safe, secure and peaceful. There is no pain, no sadness and no tears.” I was proud of my explanation. Self-assured. Aaah, I had redeemed myself. I imagined patting myself on the back.

He looked at me with big brown eyes.

“Where’s that costume?”