I’ve never liked Halloween. Even as a child I really didn’t get excited about putting on a mask and going door to door getting candy.

Maybe the reason I don’t care for Halloween is that I was assaulted by older kids in an alley by my home when I was in 5th grade on Halloween night. They beat me up and took all the candy I had collected. Every Halloween that bad memory always comes back to me. It was a traumatic event for me as a child.

We lived in New Ulm in a really nice neighborhood at the time. Many neighborhood kids were my friends and we all got along great. This particular Halloween night my brother Greg and I along with a few friends canvassed the neighborhood filling our bags with candy. Halloween in the 1960’s was a pretty big deal. I had a large paper bag, like the ones you get at a grocery store. I was dressed in a skeleton costume that mom had made for me. I was about a block or two from home when my brother Greg decided to run ahead and go home. I was alone and decided to take the last block home in the alley.

Of course it was dark. I heard noises behind me. As I was turning around one person had a knife and cut my paper bag making all my candy spill on the ground, then I was pushed to the ground. I am assuming they were a couple of older teenagers wearing clown masks. They started kicking me and punching me on the ground while laughing. It happened fast. They ran away and I got up and ran home leaving my bag and candy on the ground.

So Halloween isn’t my favorite day. I do enjoy watching little kids trick or treat and seeing all the different costumes. The only good thing about Halloween as an adult is the candy and knowing my favorite holiday Thanksgiving is coming soon.