Thoughts on Halloween
By: Alora Wogsland
Halloween is my all time favorite holiday. This comes as no surprise to my friends. Also, my birthday is only four days before Halloween which makes everything better. Birthday plus Halloween equals one happy Alora. For as long as I can remember, I have relished the creativity and ingenuity that comes with creating a good costume. Whether it was me sewing my costume or Mom sewing something, I’ve tried to put effort into my costume each and every year. In fifth grade, Mom sewed my sister and I both floor length costume dresses that were amazing. The picture above is from my 8th grade Halloween. It is my siblings and I in our costumes, that we all worked hard to create. I was a forest sprite that year. Since then, I’ve created lots of other costumes. Last year, my sister and I worked together to create our costumes. We combed Goodwill together and sewed our pieces together. She created a costume for Rapunzel and I created one for Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
This year, I have decided to be Pearl from Steven Universe. I thought Pearl’s outfit would be easy, but I was very wrong. The only part of it I found a Goodwill was the shirt.. The main issue I’ve had has been finding yellow shorts. I don’t know why Pearl wears yellow shorts, but it is making my costume creation very difficult. It doesn’t help that I didn’t start looking for costume pieces until all of the stores had transitioned into winter wear. Hence, why I have been unable to find the correct shorts. However, I did find a top that works, so I’m just going to wear black shorts instead of orange and be a punk rock version of Pearl. The goal of a costume is to be recognizable not straight from the screen.
If you haven’t noticed yet, Halloween is a very important part of my life. I love to trick-or-treat and my family always comes together around Halloween to get our costumes together. The point of this post is not to talk about my past and current costumes. This post is about growing up. It is a reminder of the great Halloween’s I’ve had in the past and the ones that are yet to come.
Two days ago, I turned 18 which, in most of the world, classifies me as an adult. I can do lots of adult-y things, except rent a car or buy alcohol. I can buy lottery tickets, but I am also starting to outgrow trick-or-treating. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely going to trick-or-treat this year. No one can stop me. I just wonder if I’ll trick-or-treat next year. By then, I’ll be in a new city, potentially alone, for graduate school. I won’t have friends my age to trick-or-treat with, and even if I did, who would give candy to 19-year-olds. I’m growing up which is terrifying, but it also is opening the door to new opportunities. I can vote in the election next year and next Halloween I’ll still dress up, but I probably won’t be going door to door. Maybe I’ll go to a party or through one myself.
The picture above is the last one of all four kids in my family together in their Halloween costumes. I’ve been away at college for every Halloween since then. I’ve still celebrated it and dressed up, but I’ve done it with my friends instead of my family. Halloween is a tradition that I will never stop doing. It is my all-time favorite holiday and growing up will not change that.
