As if Halloween wasn't already magical, it always meant more to my family because it was also my brother's birthday. This meant Halloween wasn't just about the candy - it involved cake!
(Very lewd mid 90's witch cake by my mother)
My brother and I were part of a "playgroup", which was essentially a group of adult friends who all had children around the same time & forced them to interact. Luckily, the majority of those friendships lasted for years. My parents held joint adult/kid Halloween parties at the end of October. This meant halloween themed food, games, goody bags and more (all the parents drinking).
(Being weird in front of some really lazy decorations)
My parents would decorate and take photos of all the kids dressed up on our front porch. One year, my mom made a bizarre makeshift O.J. Simpson/Jason scarecrow that sat there the entire month. Believe it or not, my parents were huge O.J. fans/still think he is innocent, so this was an odd choice. He even had the glove! This same year my mom went all out with the Halloween games. She filled boxes with weird items for the kids to reach into & take guesses on. You know, the spaghetti worms, latex glove hand (I'm not sure anyone knows what that one is), olive eyeballs, etc. It was a blast.
(One of our best friends and my mom's O.J. on the left)
Another year, parents were drinking on our deck while the kids ran around our big backyard at night. My dad and a few of the other intoxicated fathers started a bonfire. They decided to scare the shit out of us by pretending there was a killer loose while we were in the middle of a game of hide and seek. One of them put a mask on in our garage and ran around. It was terrifying but cracked us all up.
My very first Fall memory was of a family Halloween event in our Village. It smelled incredible. That night, they had candy, apple cider, cinnamon donuts, cookies (all sorts of bake goods), storytellers and "family friendly" musicians. It was the very first time I had ever had a powdered cinnamon donut in my life (I still associate October with that taste/smell). I remember hanging onto my Boo Bucket from McDonalds (McPunkn') most of the night. At one point in the evening, I walked right up on stage and interrupted one of the performers while my parents took photos. I'm guessing their memory of that Halloween wasn't as wonderful as mine.
(A tribute to childhood)
What is your very first Halloween/Fall memory?