Halloween - A Favorite of Jim's

Halloween was always exciting in our house while growing up. It is my mom's birthday as well as one of Jim's favorite holidays. I remember Jim getting very excited as Halloween approached. As a kid he was very in to what he was going to be. We started off going with our parents and then as we got older we set off on our own. At first Jim tagged along with my friends and I, but he quickly found out that we did not move as fast as he needed in order to get the most amount of candy possible. I think that we tried to stay together for a couple of years, however as we got older we headed out separately.

Eventually the costume became an after thought to Jim and it was ALL about the candy. Jim and his friends would RUN from one house to the next to see how much they could get in the evening. They would take huge pillowcases with them and ended up with an amazing amount of candy. After we got back home I remember many Halloween nights sitting on our living room floor and dumping our candy all around us. Jim and I would sort through it and trash the stuff we definitely didn't want and then do a little trading for the stuff we did. All the while we would have to fend off my dad who was always grabbing anything that he could... we learned to be very protective! We spent a good amount of time sitting on that floor surrounding by our goods, enjoying every minute of it.

Jim eventually became one of "those kids", who was way too old to be out trick or treating anymore and rarely even tried to put together a decent costume. I think that I even remember him going out in high school one year (maybe more!) simply dressed in all black.

There was one year when he and his friends discovered that if they went to frat houses the guys there would be unprepared and would give them beer instead... they found that very exciting and I remember him sharing this proudly. I am sure that there are many more Halloween stories that could be shared and if any of his friends would like to fess up to some of they stuff they pulled off... feel free to send me an email, I would love to hear!

Halloween will definitely be bittersweet this year as I watch my kids run from house to house, I will have many memories of doing the same with Jim.

I love you Jim.

Julie