by Philip Kavesh, Attorney
By mid October of each year, the luster of the first day of school had worn off, the slow daily grind of school work had set in and no days off were in sight until Thanksgiving (unless we were lucky enough to get an early “snow day”). So I, my brothers, sister and all the other kids in the ‘hood looked forward with great anticipation to the annual ritual of “Trick or Treat”.
As a young child, Halloween was all about the costume. Just considering all the options, seeing what was available in the stores or making your own outfit at home took up countless hours of grand thought and enjoyable activity.
But, when I got older (I think about 11), the experience of Halloween shifted. It became more about the amount of candy “booty”, the great “haul”, the “loot” ! It no longer was mere fun and games, it became serious business!
The Master Plan
And as with any other serious business, our Halloween candy acquisition pursuit required detailed planning. I, my brother and our other boy friends (and sometimes my sister) strategized together about how to accumulate the most candy we possibly could. We meticulously mapped out our roles and territories. The oldest among us would start the evening’s activities by accompanying the youngest ones (who had to be brought home early) to the nearest by homes - - and in the process we scouted out which places had the worst and best and most candy! The middle aged “gang members” simultaneously proceeded out on their mission to secure a lot of early candy (before it ran out) from homes that were a little farther away, but still not too far from our neighborhood. Then, the oldest ones (me included), after dropping off the youngsters, headed out on our bikes to way farther off “happy hunting grounds”!
This long distance venture wasn’t done haphazardly. Oh, no. First, we were well equipped. Some of us attached baskets to our bikes and brought several supermarket paper bags so we could triumphantly return with our “spoils”. Others folded up in their pockets large size, heavy weight plastic garbage bags for all the candy we couldn’t carry on our bikes (I’ll explain why in a moment). Second, we plotted out the town’s various neighborhoods and divided them up among us so that we could have maximum coverage. Usually, we traveled out in teams of two, so one could always be the “wing man” to protect the guy returning from the door from clever thieves (I mean “competitors”) and help carry back all the loot! Or hide it. . .
You see, we intended to bring back a LOT of candy! More than we could possibly carry on our bikes. That’s where the garbage bags came in handy. We would stuff and hide them at secret spots strategically located along our route (usually in bushes, where these dark green bags were perfectly camouflaged!). Then we could come back and pick them up the next day! We truly were professional Halloween candy treasure hunters.
Some Ghoulish Challenges
Our biggest challenge wasn’t the weather, or how far we could pedal our bikes, it was the clock. Our parents never asked the older kids where we were going; we just had to be back home by 9 o’clock. (What a different world than today! Kids riding miles away in the dark to unknown neighborhoods? That would be “child endangerment” now!)
So in order to “beat the clock,” we came up with the idea of stashing our loot in the neighborhood bushes - - because we couldn’t otherwise get home fast enough will all that weight, after traveling as far away as we could! (Plus, one year a kid had a tire blow out from the weight of all the candy!)
Sometimes, we got into a bit of trouble trying to beat the clock. Back then, there were no cell phones, no Siri, and no Google maps to help you home if you got lost (which could happen in a small, rural town at night, particularly when there was no moon!). And none of us could afford to get home late and be forced to explain to our parents why - - or “the jig was up!” So we designated a gathering place where we were all to rendezvous by 8:30, just in case someone was lost, so we could send out our own posse to find him!
The Secret Conclave
But there was even a more important reason for this late night gathering, to assess our “take”! Sometimes, we even did a little “trading” right then. (Usually we held off until we picked up the rest of the goods the next day - - which we planned out before we all headed to our homes.) Once home, each of us sorted our stuff between ourselves and our siblings (and traded with them too). All in all, a very successful evening for our annual endeavor, (made even better when we retrieved those hidden garbage bags the next day!).
Well, after a couple of years of this serious business, I evolved into a teenager, too old to be part of such a silly and admittedly greedy undertaking (although I do have to also admit that the candy stockpile did come in handy as bribes to get my younger siblings to obey me when Mom and Dad were away!). Later, when I was age 17 and my family was moving to a new house, I was cleaning out my bedroom drawers and found a huge stash of several years old candy which, sadly, I had to toss out! What foolish hoarding behavior I thought! (And I finally realized that this old candy may have been the reason field mice occasionally snuck into and scampered around our bedroom!)
A Moral to This Story?
Looking back on it, that type of gathering, accumulating and hoarding behavior seems to be fun and maybe even gratifying when you’re younger. But as you become older and a bit wiser, you realize the childishness of those ways. Think about it. All that stuff you’ve accumulated and saved – such as personal memorabilia, family photos and collectibles – that you never use or enjoy anymore. Why not give it now to your loved ones (or charity), a little at a time, rather than waiting to pass it on as part of your estate? You’ll experience a new and more profound sense of gratification that comes from sharing and seeing others enjoy these things while you’re still around. And by personally giving these to your loved ones now, they’ll likely attach greater value to them and maybe preserve them for the next generation. Plus, you’ll be saving them from contracting “sudden inheritance syndrome” when you pass - - when they’ll get everything you have all at once and merely wind up either tossing out or selling off your prized possessions for pennies on the dollar! It may even be an opportunity for you to share your personal experiences and stories with those you love – a far more touching and longer lasting legacy.
