I am the only girl and the middle child between two boys. Perhaps not surprisingly, a popular exhortation around my childhood home was “Bring out the best in each other!” My mom pulled out this little gem whenever we used our creative genius for evil rather than good; annoying and antagonizing one another rather than playing nicely. Bringing out the best in one another was a wise reminder that we each have the creative power within us to make our world a better place by thinking of the joy we might provide, rather than what we might take.
I was reminded of this saying last week when a neighbor shared this story from her experience trick-or-treating with her grandchild on our famous Halloween night:
As we came to Tejon and San Miguel, we were greeted by a nice couple with two pugs dressed as gargoyles. The man offered us candy from a large shoulder bag he held. I introduced myself and asked if they lived in the area.
The couple explained that when their kids were younger they brought them to the ONEN to trick or treat on Halloween. An activity they themselves thoroughly enjoyed. Now that their children are too old to celebrate the holiday, they’d decided they should not deprive themselves of the tradition they looked forward to every year; the elaborate Halloween decorations and sidewalks filled with eager children.
So, there they stood at the corner with their canine “children” dressed in costume, and handed out candy to the little trick or treaters who passed by.
Am I the only person in the neighborhood who hadn’t met these kind people until now? I don’t know how many years they have done this, or if this is their first time. At any rate, I thought it heartwarming that they felt so at home here they stationed themselves on a street corner in our neighborhood, and gave out Halloween candy to the children.
Thanks to the neighbor who shared to this story and thanks to the couple who brought joy to our neighborhood. As we look forward to the next round of holidays, may we all remember to bring out the best in our neighbors and our community.
The Northend has become a destination place for Trick & Treating in Colorado Springs. We had over 1,500 trick & treaters and enjoyed every minute of it. We moved to the ONEN when our kids were small and they went out every year with Dad, while I stayed to hand out candy. As they got older they enjoyed making the house “scary”. Then they grew up, got married and their children came to Grandma & Grandpa’s for Halloween night….now they too have grown up and they are making the house once again a scary and fun destination. 35 years of great memories and hoping for many more!
We moved to the 1400 block of Tejon about 4 or 5 years ago. Although we have lived somewhere downtownish for ~ 20 years. Didn’t believe when the neighbors told us to expect 1,000s of kids. We now count our candy each year and last night handed out 1790 pieces (at a rate of one piece per kid) between 6 and 9PM. I want to know if there is a neighborhood anywhere in this country that claims more trick or treaters. This is totally, super fun insanity and I try to tell our 4 young boys that ONEN is the only place in the world with a party of this size on Halloween.