It's Somewhere

     Well I’ve had enough of that tart taste of illness and now it’s time to pour a glass of sweet tea. During my time out, so to speak, I started looking at some family photos, some old and some not so old. I found a wide variety of photos; everything from births, birthdays, nature walks, holidays to a lot of miscellaneous photos. But I didn’t find a lot on the season of spooks…Halloween that is. Don’t get me wrong I did find some, but not as much as you would think.  Most of them were of my kids, of course, and some of my brothers and me growing up. I didn’t see any of my grandparents as children in costumes or even my own parents.  That really got me to thinking about this holiday we celebrate as kids.  Do we really know a lot about this particular holiday and if our ancestors celebrated it the same way we do, was it not a big deal, or was it viewed as a day of evil? Don’t get me wrong I love Halloween, dressing in costume, eating candy and yes having to chance to scare the… candy corn out of those who venture up my driveway. 

      But what about my ancestors, there aren’t any pictures of kids in costumes, stories or letters written about Halloween.  When we begin the trip back in time looking at the lives that our ancestors lived you might find a large mix of religious beliefs, some that wouldn’t allow such an event.  Then again you might even be surprised to find out they had never even heard of such a holiday. I just can’t help but wonder what my great or 3x great grandparents thought of this holiday.  

Did they know about it? 

Who or what would their costumes have been?

What would their costumes have been made out of?

Did they carry a carved pumpkin; go door to door repeating the now familiar saying “trick-or-treat”?

Were they given candy, baked goods or told to go away?    

     I know this might be somewhat of a strange blog post to most of you but it just caught my attention. The lack of photos and other information from my ancestors about this holiday that is. I would love to see my grandmother dressed in costume with her brother and sisters.  Just the stories alone… that picture could tell. I’m going to continue to search for that picture, I’m sure it’s out there somewhere or even a diary entry, or letter about that night.  

     No matter what, just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there or it didn’t exist or even happen.  Some of the most interesting stories about our ancestors are out there, missing and waiting to be found.