My Life as a Novel

I have never carved a pumpkin. Is this strange? Because I didn't think so until I shared that with a few people recently and they looked at me like I was from another planet.

I come from a pretty conservative family that used to be a VERY conservative family. (Case in point: My mom once signed a contract with her job that she wouldn't wear pants and her skirts couldn't show her ankles.) So, needless to say, Halloween was pretty sketchy to my parents. I remember in kindergarten, my whole class was going trick-or-treating and the decision of whether or not I would go was not made without considerable debate.

That Halloween sucked because my parents DID decide to let me go. It was harmless enough. Dress up. Walk to the library, the bank, and the courthouse. Get candy. Go back to school. And I went dressed as a grandma. Floral-print nightgown, complete with matching slippers and hat. Little glasses perched on my nose. And off to collect candy we went.

Everything was fine until we got to the bank and my dad's cousin, who worked there, saw me and pointed me out, laughing, to one of her coworkers. I was mortified. And angry. How dare she laugh at me! I still remember the condescending look on her face. I just wanted to go right back to school. I was done with Halloween. For good. I never wanted to go trick-or-treating again.

Looking back, I'm quite sure she was laughing and saying, "How cute!" But in the moment. Oh, boy. I could've stomped her toe.

So... all that to say. Halloween was not really a "celebrated occasion" for my family. (My parents may have thought it was devilish, but I just didn't enjoy being laughed at.) And since carving pumpkins isn't really a tradition for any other holiday, it's been missing from my list of childhood experiences.

Until now.

Last night, I bought a pumpkin for $2 at the Local Walmart. And tonight, I shall make an attempt at carving it. We'll see how this turns out.

Labels: holidays