Ghosts, Gratitude and a Sundae

Happy Halloween, everybody! And it’s Friday, and also the end of another month. As a kid, I used to adore Halloween. It was the first of three events (only) that I could look forward to and enjoy, gripped in the very center of yet another long Canadian winter. How I loathed the cold and the clothes that had to be piled on in a million layers just to get to school, and then that blast of forced hot air walking into a building from 20 or 30 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit in those days), would have me sweating and peeling off scarves, mittens, toques, coat, sweater before I could even sit behind my desk. Then, to do the reverse, a few hours later, to get home. I swore as a child I would find a better way to live – someplace where snow didn’t exist. (Clearly, I have crossed that big thing off my bucket list!)

So, Halloween meant that I only had nine more days to wait until my birthday! I would tick off every day easily. Just a little more than a week to go until Event Number Two arrives, complete with cake, ice cream, and maybe something very cool that I had to unwrap. The thing is, the tail ends of the candy and whatnot collected on the 31st were almost finished, so the birthday carbs kept that going forward until the Third and final Event only, in winter, that made me happy, was Christmas, where the birthday unwrapping of gifts got pumped up sometimes into double digits if you counted all the things in my stocking. It’s still all about the layers, overlaps, and stocking up on carbs and gifts!

It’s the only way I got through the winter with half a smile on my frozen face. And it was just yesterday that I experienced some residual brain freeze sitting at Costco with my sister, Patrice, digging into our ritual sundaes with strawberries. Damn, that stuff is good! It fired our second round of shopping, going to Costco straight from La Comer.

Both stores were packed and will remain that way until Easter. Go with patience and kindness and don’t bemoan the long, long lines. Take that time to celebrate the abundance of what’s in your cart and the dozens ahead of you in line, and remember how fortunate you are to be able to pay for all those things that will hopefully bring you happiness in some way or another.

This weekend is one of the most important in Mexico, as Dia de los Muertos honors family members who have passed from this life into the next, recognizing that death is not the end but a new beginning. Where your energy shifts shape and a fresh start awaits us all.