Happy Halloween

Ah yes, yet another Halloween. In anticapation I await the arrival of my five grandchildren. Their faces proud as they show off their Halloween costumes to their Grandma and Poppa. And then they will be off with their parents making their way around the neighborhood for Trick or Treat goodies.
As I wait for this moment to arrive, my mind takes me to Halloween nights of days gone by and a smile comes over my face. I think of those Halloween eves when I was a child and compare them with the Halloween of today. So much about this children's holiday has changed.
When I was young on Halloween, I would come out of the house dressed up in my costume of choice for that year. Usually it was made from my imagination using items found lying around the house, my mothers make up and so on. I would glance up and down our street to see almost every house on the block with porch light lit. Someone would be at each of these houses sitting inside of their open door with a large bowl of candy eagerly awaiting the next batch of Trick or Treaters to arrive at their house. I would roam the streets of our neighborhood with a few freinds, our pillowcases in tow. We would go house to house on every street within walking distance filling our cases with all sorts of goodies until they were too heavy for us to carry. Then we'd go back home, empty out the contents and go back out and fill them up again. After doing this a few times, we would hit all the stores up on the main street and get candy or pop or whatever they were passing out that year. We would get home around 10 or 11 p.m. and start sifting through our halloween treasures. We would be eating our favorite candies while we sorted it out and counting up the change we had received. Fond memories indeed.
Then I think of this Halloween. The children dressed up in the most popular costumes of the day. They would be purchased by their parents for a good deal of money. These Trick or Treaters will go down streets with only lit porch lights scattered here and there. Their parents will be escorting them house to house to ensure their safety. Only the older teens will be allowed out with just their friends. These children will start at dusk and be through for the night by 7 or 8 p.m. Then it will be off to the local police station to have their candy checked for foriegn objects before they even get to think about eating a single piece. Some children will skip the Halloween night Trick or Treat run completely. They will don their costumes and go to a church or something to that effect for a Halloween social gathering with their parents. By about 9 p.m. the little Halloweeners of today will be out of their costumes and getting ready for bed.
So different was Halloween when I was young. In a way, I'm glad that I grew up when I did. For some reason, Holidays just seemed to be celebrated better back then. I wonder if the children of today will look back fondly at their Halloween memories and compare the differences when they are middle-aged to when they were young.