Ezekiel is Ron Weasley for Halloween (cousin Taran is Harry). We pieced his costume together. One of my old ties, a collared white shirt, Ivy’s old Gryffindor robes. Then came spray-in hair color. Now we just needed a wand. I went into the garage looking for inspiration. I grabbed an arrow. Cut it in half. Sanded down the steel tip (no need to magically stab anyone!). Then took a mini paint roller for the handle. Electrical tape. Brown paint… Accio, a wand was in MrEs hands!

I love Halloween. I love how we transform ourselves. And not just with costumes. Suddenly, the entire neighborhood is opening their doors and sharing candy. The guy down the street dresses up like a hot dog and then gives out grilled dogs. There is a line at the house that splurges on full-size candy bars. The streets are full of laughter and kindness.

This night was created to frighten us. It is still dark and some of the houses are creepy. But we still go up to those doors, because we know they are sharing candy too. All the fright has been overcome by compassion! Which is kind of like heaven.

** Don’t worry, for those who still want fright, election day is coming. It provides more than enough…