Candy Guy

Still the best Halloween... ever

One of the photos I took during COVID.

The only time I gave candy to kids back in the early 2010s is a great memory I still think of now and then.

I was living with my oldest sister in Millersville, Maryland, in a nice neighborhood surrounded by townhouses. At the time, she was helping me register at a university in Virginia that she was attending online. I was excited and anxious to start my university journey after a few years of struggling to make that a reality, thanks to outside forces.

My other sister was in town around Halloween time, so it felt like we were back in North Carolina again, growing up in a mobile home with roaches and rats and hurricanes dropping by every summer, before they both went into the military. All we were missing was my younger brother then, and the reunion would have been complete.

It was a joy talking, laughing, eating Pizza Hut for dinner, and watching holiday movies like It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Plus, we had a lot of great candy and snacks that they got earlier when they went shopping at a store near the neighborhood.

And then my oldest sister made my body freeze when she volunteered me to give out candy to kids in the neighborhood. I said, ‘‘Sure.’’ My stomach was feeling a different way about the news. An anxious volcano erupted inside. My mind wondered, ‘‘Why me?’’

Other thoughts came up, like:

‘‘Why can’t we do it together?’’

‘‘What if the kids are mean?’’

‘‘What if their parents are mean?’’

‘‘So that explains why we had so much candy/snacks!’’

‘‘What if I let down all the candy soldiers on the front lines during Halloween? Would I leave with that kind of shame? Probably not.’’

Since my oldest sister dropped that news on me, all I could think of was how to avoid the assignment of handing out candy to strangers. Maybe if I got sick, that would free me from it, but the sick ghost didn’t visit me that day.

The thoughts of giving out candy to trick-or-treaters refused to leave my mind until trick-or-treat time. As the day turned into a light night, my nerves increased inside me. The ‘‘I have to give a speech in front of a class’’ kind of nerves.

‘‘I hope I do a good job of giving out this candy to the kids who come by.’’

‘‘What if I dropped some candy on the ground because of my out-of-control nerves or something?’’

‘‘Trick or treat!’’

Then it was time. I believe it was 7 pm when I went near the door with the candy buckets my sisters had made with different yummy candies. My sisters and niece were near me. That made me feel a little better when I would start giving candy to whoever came by.

When the doorbell rang for the first time, I quickly grabbed a candy bucket and opened the door, bracing for whatever happened. I hear an adorable trick-or-treat coming from two kids who looked like they were six or seven in their cute costumes, with their smiling parents who were also in Halloween costumes.

My sisters, niece, and I say hello to them while I’m putting candy in their buckets.

‘‘Thank you.’’ the kids say so adorably.

‘‘You’re welcome,’’ I reply while smiling at the family.

They make their way to the next house that’s giving out candy. I close the door and listen to my sisters talk while feeling good inside.

‘‘That wasn’t bad. That actually felt good!’’

A few minutes passed by before I heard the doorbell sound again. It was another awesome short experience, making kids and their parents happier by putting candy in their buckets, which made me feel happy too.

The more I gave candy to the kids who came by the house, the more I enjoyed doing it. I became eager to do it.

‘‘Where are the kids?!? Where are the kids?!?’’

By the fourth visit, I was in a great rhythm of giving out candy to kids. I also saw people in other townhouses across the street handing out candy by their doors, which made that Halloween night more enjoyable.

I had such a blast giving candy that I felt sad when it was over. I wanted that night to keep going. I could have given candy to kids until 1 in the morning, but that would be too late for the little creatures.

I’m so glad that my assumptions about the trick-a-treating were wrong. It’s one of the best nights I’ve ever had. Spending time with family while making other families happy for a few seconds. I’m grateful to my oldest sister for giving me a great gift that night, the gift of being a candy guy for a short time.