Halloween

It was Halloween on Saturday.  Katie and Chelsea went to a Halloween party dressed as nerds and we hung out with Stephanie and passed out candies to the little itty bitties in their costumes.  Ketchup packets for those teenagers who just have pillowcases. 

I heard this guy say this on the radio, and it pretty much sums it up for Fred and I:

"Four years ago I talked about a Halloween evening with Minnie Mouse, Jasmine, Tinker Bell, and Tigger. At that time, my quartet of daughters were 7 though 12, and I lamented then that the babies I used to carry and the little girls who once wouldn’t let go of my hand had morphed into boisterous, confident young ladies well on their way to independence.

Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays ever since I became a dad. I loved the earnest discussions of who my kids wanted to be, and I enjoyed watching them timidly ring bells and triumphantly return showing the treasures they’d collected – all capped off by counting, sorting, and trading items from gigantic piles of sugar-loaded loot.


Well, my Halloween Daddy Days ended this week. For the first time in 16 years, my wife Anne and I stayed home to dole out goodies to other people’s children.

All but one daughter dispersed to different parts of the city to share the evening with their friends. And the one who decided to troll our neighborhood had her own entourage and no need or desire for parental chaperones.


And so, like millions of parents before us, Anne and I sighed, marveled, and cried a little wondering where the time had gone.

The answer, of course, is that all those years are wrapped like candy in moment-sized packets. Giggles, tantrums, hugs, squeals of joy, sobs of pain, and so much more fill the treat bag in our hearts.

The thing is, we can’t spend too much time looking back because too much is still ahead. We must pay close attention and savor every moment knowing in four more years we’ll be missing the days we have right now.


This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts."