Here’s a story I haven’t thought about in a long time, but it came flooding back to me today after a random comment on Instagram asking about one of my decorations.
I’ve mentioned before that my Aunt Trish was always the one to take me trick-or-treating as a kid. We had a regular route we’d follow, and, being the Halloween fanatics we were, decorations we got used to seeing every year and looked forward to seeing again.
No memory is so prominent, though, as the lamppost that would transform every year into the backdrop of a magical scene.
We noticed it that very first year, when I was four years old. A lamppost at the edge of the walkway leading up to a house that was pushed a little farther back than the others. The lightbulb was covered with a sphere shaped fixture, and, when Halloween time would come around, suddenly the silhouette of a witch on her broom would appear, creating the magical illusion of a witch flying across the moon.
For many years that lamppost remained. I believe I was seventeen the last time we saw it. The image of the witch had blurred by then, but the magic and nostalgia it brought remained. In those later years, I looked at that witch, and thought about how many Halloweens it had seen. It was there to witness when I found myself, a tiny pumpkin just learning about all Halloween had to offer. It was there year after year, to see every costume, every time my face lit up with joy at the sight of it, and every sorrowful stare when I knew it was time to say goodbye for another year. 364 days between Halloweens was always too many (And don’t even get me started on the leap years!), but the memory of that witch was one of the things that kept me going throughout. I’d think of her whenever I saw a lamppost like that one, in a spherical shape. I’d think of her when the moon was full and wish she would come flying by. I’d see her in my dreams of Halloween in February and worlds where everything was as I wished it could be. I still see her in every memory of my childhood Halloweens.
Several years after my last encounter with her, I got some sort of email from a company called Plow & Hearth. I never leave any stone unturned where Halloween could be involved, so I looked at it, and lo and behold, I found a decoration that brought me right back to the edge of that walkway on Halloween night in the 1990s.
I know it’s not exactly the same thing, as I highly doubt many people would even consider selling their old DIY Halloween lights, but this little witch sphere is so magical that I get the most amazing nostalgic feeling whenever I look at it. I now keep this sphere next to my bed at night, and hope that my dreams will be as sweet as Halloweens past.
Stay spooky, my friends.
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