See You Next Year

It was sometime around those junior high-into-high school years, as we grew taller, that we knew we were aging. When it became obvious while deciding upon a costume & roaming the neighborhood streets that what should be our "trick-or-treat years" was coming to an end/already had come to an end.

I still wanted to be a part of it. Not for the "seeing the kids' costumes" part of it; rather just for handing out the candy. It made me feel as connected as I wished to be. Mom typically bought a bag of this & this. She'd check in with me from time to time to see how many kids had come on by & if we needed to "double up" or "thin out". Basically Mom typically gave each kid one of each mini candy. If we were "thinning out" we'd be giving them just one piece instead of the two pieces. "Doubling up" meant that, depending on how bad it was, we'd either give the kids three pieces, or four pieces.

This was all decided based on how much candy was left in the bowls & bags & how late into the evening it seemed to be, as well as how many kids seemed to be trolling the street. If no one seemed to be out, then I definitely was "doubling up". One of the good weather years (there were a few where the temperature made it extra pleasant to trick-or-treat) I needed to "thin out", otherwise we were definitely set to run out of candy way too soon. And we didn't want to be in a position where we'd need to turn away any trick-or-treaters.

Aside from actually handing out the candy (which meant tossing it into their open pillowcase for them 😁), one thing I truly enjoyed the most, which is something I thought of on my own, was to say, "See you next year." It left many, if not most, completely dumbfounded. Their body language read that they were wondering, "Why'd she just say that?"

Their expression was of complete & udder befuddlement. Some would stop in their tracks & actually ask, "Why?" or "How come?" Through my high school years, up to & including my junior year I'd make this comment most every time a kid approached our screen door. And it was because I could respond, "You'll be trick-or-treating next year, won't you?"😏 "Well, I'll be right here again handing out candy." 😊

They'd nod in agreeing understanding & be on their way. 😕😑 Surely they were wondering, "Who's that crazy lady?"😒 I do believe the effects of my college years were already beginning in these particular moments of my high school years. It was a complete personal growth of sorts; something I'd have never bothered to do before as I'd been avoiding the, "Why'd you say that?" kind of questions I'd surely have received even a few years younger. 😜

Lo & behold, though I've handed out candy in years since high school, I've not said "See you next year." to anyone. This is mainly because it's not been since those simple years of ol' that I actually knew, one year out, that I'd be right where I was, one year later, to be handing out that candy to those kids. 😄

Life's funny like that. The guarantees of life during high school that adulthood doesn't always provide.


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