Halloween Growing Up
I went Trick-or-treating for the last time when I was 2 years old. I was dressed up as a cute little panda bear. My brother and I went out with my parents and grandparents to trick-or-treat and as we walked up to one of the homes, a man dressed up as a scarecrow jumped out and scared me. Lets just say I screamed for quite some time! It was so traumatic that I still remember it 27 years later!!! That was it. We never went again. We started our own tradition of going to the movies and out for dinner as a family on Halloween night. I remember all 6 of us kids loving the tradition growing up. The restaurants and theaters were always empty and we had a great time together.
Halloween In The Johnson House
When Matthew and I started dating, we talked about holidays and how we prefer to celebrate each of them. I was actually super relieved when he said that he didn’t like celebrating Halloween in the traditional way either. So its pretty much just a normal day for us. Except for one small semi interesting difference…
State Halloween Laws
Because of Matthew’s sex offender registration, we are required to spend Halloween at home. The state statute says that we can not have any Halloween related contact with children, we have to keep our outdoor lights turned off after 5pm, we have to post a sign on our front door stating that we are not giving out candy, and we have to stay home between the hours of 5pm and 10pm. The good news is, this really is not an inconvenience for our family. It means we get a special evening together without any interruptions.
Our Special Visitor
We chose to spend our Halloween evening setting some goals and making plans for the next few very busy weeks. As we were sitting there cuddling on the couch, an SUV pulled into our driveway. Living in the country we don’t get many visitors, so Matthew stepped outside to see who it was. Turned out that our special late night visitors were two deputies from the local sheriffs department. They were coming by to make sure that Matthew was home and that we were following all of the required guidelines for the evening. After a very brief chat, they checked him off their list and were on their way, and we were back to snuggling.
An Attitude of Gratitude
As Matthew came back inside and sat down with me, I had a moment of overwhelming gratitude. I am so grateful that we do life together. We are all in and totally committed to each other and our journey. Are there inconveniences from Matthew’s registration? You bet there are! But we always face them together. I’m grateful that we face the hard things in life with optimism and faith. What could have been an awkward evening locked in our own home, was actually quite lovely and memorable. I hope that each of you had an evening as fun and special as ours was.
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