Sugary Delights on Halloween Night

As Halloween approaches, I figured it would be the perfect time to talk about sweets in the sugary delight form—chocolate bars, oozing caramel, nougat, and even sour and tangy hard candies… Okay, I must stop now, I’m getting hungry.

At this time of the year, there are certainly no bags of candy that are safe in the house from excess consumption. The evidence lies in the wrappers curled on my snack table as I chill and watch the latest horror movie hoping it will become a favorite for years to come.

I have many stories I remember in my childhood during Halloween, but one that sticks out the most was when I was about ten years old and went trick-or-treating with one of my very best friends. I remember screaming trick-or-treat as we went from house to house anxiously hoping our Halloween candy would be in plentiful supply with a heavy bag of sugar by the end of the night. As we approached this one house and rang the doorbell, we figured nobody was home and took some sturdy knocks just to be sure. As we were about to leave the stoop, the door opened slowly with an older gentleman peeking his head at us.

We proudly held up our bags and said, “trick-or-treat” and smiled. He told us he didn’t have much and was hard of hearing which is why he didn’t come to the door when we rang the bell. Not much to give, he took the change he had from his pocket that amounted to pennies. He said, “I know it’s not much, but it’s something. Happy Halloween.”

It wasn’t until years later I realized just how much this man wanted to give when life perhaps turned sour, he found a way to remain sweet. Those pennies meant a lot to me because frankly, he didn’t have to answer the door or give us anything, but his kindness and smile gave us so much in return.

Our lives here are short, so regardless of the circumstances, I do my best to find a way to remain sweet, with or without cane sugar, in the process.

Happy Halloween. Be careful and be safe.

I’m cheering for you.