What is Halloween?
- A day to buy enough Hershey bars and Kit Kats to make sure there’s some left over for you after the ghosts and goblins have gone home to bed?
- A day to dress up as Lady Gaga?
- As Nancy Pelosi?
- A day to look death square in the face with scary stuff like spiders, skeletons and spooky jack-o-lanterns?
- Or is it a day for the dead? A day to remember the saintly and no-so-saintly folks who have gone before? In my particular corner of Christianity (the Episcopal Church), October 31 is All Hallows Eve. November 1 is All Hallows Day — aka All Saints Day. All Saints Day honors actual saints. The next day, November 2 is All Souls’ Day. It honors the rest of us.
In Mexico and elsewhere, Día de Muertos is celebrated with food and visits to cemeteries and the graves of the departed. Stories — especially the funny ones — are told about those who aren’t around any more to get the story straight.
And, so, in the spirit of Día de Muertos, I’m making this Halloween a day for the dead. I’m sharing a Jon story or two here, including one that was told at the cemetery after Jon’s interment in September.
Some are funny. Some are — dead — serious.
Jon’s nephew by marriage, Derek Falconer, tells a true-life Jon story from Derek’s childhood. Videos by Matthew Yarbrough
A year ago, on Halloween, a mischievous Jon sent magical candy through cyberspace to his faraway granddaughters. His daughter-in-law tells the story.
More Jon stories at: “For Wetter, for Drier, I’m Married to California.” And, “The Day Our Son Didn’t Drown.”
1st. reading All Souls Day:
Wisdom 3:1-9
The book of Wisdom — I didn’t know about it. So I read up on Wikipedia. Here’s the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Wisdom
A really nice passage that addresses head-on the worst fears and feelings of those of us left behind. Thank you, Jean.
So we can celebrate all saints day todayby eating the trick or treat candy left from all saints eve – or cut it in pieces and make a trick or treat cake for all saints day.
The kids stopped coming to our house years ago, so I have just one piece of candy left over from Halloween. It’s the one I sent through cyberspace to my granddaughters — as Jon did last year. To get the full story, watch the video of my daughter-in-law speaking at Jon’s interment.