Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hi, everyone, this is Dawn Clem, and you are on my podcast, Milkweed and Monarchs.
Well, today I'm recording this on October 30, the day before Halloween.
And I love the fall.
I absolutely love the fall. I've always loved the fall. It's my favorite season, although I appreciate all of the seasons. Being raised in Michigan, you definitely see all four seasons. And I don't know, I think what I like about the fall is that you see all the color changes of the leaves and it starts to get a little cooler. Of course, football starts. I love football.
And my birthday is in October. So I think those are all the reasons why I really love the fall.
I'm a person that likes to can. So every year in September and October, I can. Applesauce, spaghetti sauce, apple butter, pumpkin butter, all that. Those kind of activities I do in the fall. And those are things that I really love to too. So the fall is just a great season for me.
And the biggest thing I remember so much is about Halloween. Growing up, we had a small neighborhood and it was just at a time when everything was so much simpler. It was way before they started putting Tylenol in the aspirins or whatever or in the apples or. I remember they were doing things like that. And then we ended up having to go to trunk or treat parties.
That was well after I was already in high school, but actually in my 20s by then when everything changed, I was so unfortunate, you know, because when I look back at Halloween when I was growing up, across the street from us lived three elderly ladies. They're probably the same age that I.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Am right now, right?
[00:02:20] Speaker A: But they made popcorn, homemade popcorn balls. So when we went trick or treating there we would get these giant popcorn balls wrapped in a paper towel.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: That would never stand the test today, would it? No way.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: The lady next door to them made caramel apples.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Another thing that would never stand the test of today.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: And then one of our favorite places to go, he gave out polished stones for jewelry. So I had a little bracelet, chain bracelet. And every year I looked forward to getting a new stone to add to that bracelet. And I still have the bracelet.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: I know that's no shock. You know by now hearing from me that I save everything. And I do do have that bracelet.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: But it is such a great, great memory.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: My mom always bought us the standard Halloween costume. I think we got them at Murphy's 5 and 10 cent store downtown in Hillsdale. Great old fashioned 5 and dime store where you could get everything you needed. And they Had a giant candy counter there. So getting our Halloween costumes every year was great.
I always wanted to be the princess and my brother always wanted to be the monster.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: So pretty standard, pretty standard.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: And we took pillow cases as our bags back then for our candy. So that was kind of funny too. But it was just a different time, a simpler time. Some people might give us cookies.
We did get candy, but not like.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: What they get today.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: And I thought about all of those fun times after I adopted my daughter.
And their first Halloween is a story.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: That I thought I would share with you today.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: So when they came to M. Or we were living in Maine. Then when they came to Maine, they were seven and nine years old and they got there in November, so they missed the first Halloween.
So when the next year rolled around, my mom, my husband, and my husband's brother were ecstatically happy that they were.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Going to be able to take the girls trick or treating.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: And was like, you would have thought.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: It was Christmas Day, really. Everybody was so excited to take these two girls trick or treating.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: Well, they barely knew how to speak English. We had had English as a second language tutor at our house. They also worked with her while they were in school, so they were learning how to speak fairly well. But you try to explain a holiday.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: Like Halloween to two Romanian little girls and they just did not get it at all.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: They could not understand what the. The purpose of Halloween was.
Nonetheless, I did get them to tell me what kind of costumes, what they would like to dress up like. And I remember it vividly because Georgie wanted to be a rock star. She was the oldest one. And Morella wanted to be an angel. She was the youngest one. Now, mind you, they were 8 and 10, but they were so tiny, they hadn't had all the nutrition and vitamins and everything like we had here. So they looked like they were six and seven years old. They did not look eight and 10 at all.
So I got them their costumes. And Georgie's was a pair of black bottom, black bell bottom pants. It had a red sparkly sequined belt and then a black, like leotard type top. I teased her hair all up. She has curly hair. They both do. So I teased her hair all up and it was sticking out.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: I mean, and then she had a.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Pair of sunglasses like a rock star. And I put a bright red lipstick on her.
I remember it vividly. We still have pictures of it, but even if I didn't have the pictures, I remember it vividly because she ran to the mirror and she looked at herself. And she said, I'm not going out looking like this.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: I was so funny.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: But I convinced her.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: Everyone gets dressed up.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: Everyone gets dressed up for Halloween. That's what you do. You wear a costume.
And she's like, okay.
In the meantime, Mirella had a little angel costume, and her costume was the color of an eggshell, so it was kind of a creamy white. And it had a little cape to go with it, and it had a little crown, too, and then it had wings. And then I put her in little white patent leather shoes and white stockings.
[00:07:49] Speaker B: And I put a little makeup on.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Her, but not much.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Not much.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: She thought she looked beautiful. She was ecstatic about going out trick or treating, although they still had no idea what this was going to be.
So we had everything ready for him to go. And this is when they had the glow sticks, too. So we had glow sticks on them so that they could see when they were walking down the sidewalks. And we lived out in the country in Maine, so we were going to drive into a neighborhood to take them trick or treating. So my mom had a huge Oldsmobile 98, and that was like one of those old Buick Electras. I mean, just a long car, and it had. It was white, and it had burgundy.
[00:08:40] Speaker B: Leather seats in it.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: So Craig's brother Doug, Craig, myself, my mom, and the two girls all pile into this big old car, and we're.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: Gonna drive to a neighborhood, and the.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Girls are chattering away, what are we gonna do now, Mom? What are we gonna do now? What do? What's this all about? What do you think we're gonna get?
[00:09:08] Speaker B: You know, they were just so excited.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Well, the first place we took them to was Vacation Land Video.
There was a woman that owned a video store with all the VH types, VHS tapes that we would play for them, too. When we adopted them, they encouraged us to have them watch TV or movies or things like that to help them with the language. So we had a VHS player at that time, and we would get. Take them down when they would have good days, to the video store, Vacation Land Video.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: And then they could pick out tapes.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Which they absolutely loved. And they became quite good friends with the owner, Linda. So the very first stop we made was at Vacation Land Video, so Linda.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: Could see how their costumes looked. And she was so. She was so happy to see them. She just thought they looked adorable.
[00:10:08] Speaker A: And. And the girls were kind of prancing.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: Around now because people are starting to tell them that they look good, right?
[00:10:15] Speaker A: And then she says, well, where's your sack for your Candy. And they didn't have any idea what she was even talking about. So I had gotten the plastic bags for them and I gave each one of them one. And she says, open them up. So she opened them, they opened up their bag, and then she proceeded to put candy in their bag.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: And they were, oh, wow, we're gonna get some candy.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: And I'm like, yeah, that's what trick.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Or treating is all about.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: But they still didn't really get it. I mean, stopping at Vacation Land video, what does that mean?
[00:10:53] Speaker B: Right?
[00:10:54] Speaker A: So we drive up to the next neighborhood and my mom and I got out of the car with the girls and Craig and his brother stayed in the car and we went up to the first house and I and my mom stood behind the steps just waiting and I go, okay. So you go up to the door, you ring the doorbell, and when somebody comes to the door, then you say trick or treat. So they're like, okay. But they, you could tell they were.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: Just so hesitant to go up to the door, right? And my mom and I were sitting there, my mom was laughing hysterically. If you knew my mom, my mom had a great sense of hum. And so she just thought it was the funniest thing to watch them go.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: To the first house. So they go up there, ring the doorbell, nobody comes.
So they wait and they go, nobody's coming, mom. So I said, okay, come on back. Sometimes people don't participate in Halloween. So they get back down the steps and she goes, well, there was a big bucket on the porch there, and it had a sign. So I go up there and sure enough, there's a bucket on the.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: A little chair in the corner of the porch and it says, happy Halloween. Take some candy.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: So I said, get a couple pieces of candy. They go, this is for us. I go, yes, this candy is for you. So just take a couple pieces because there's going to be other kids trick or treating.
So they get their candy, we go down, then we go up to the next house. It was quite a large neighborhood, you know.
So we go to the next house and they go up to the door and I'm saying, people ring the doorbell and make sure you say trick or treat. And if they give you candy, say thank you. So they, they had it mastered. So sure enough, they go up to the next house and they ring the doorbell and the lady comes out and.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: They'Re all excited and she gives them.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Some candy in their sex. So now they're starting to get the hang of it. And what they're starting to realize is we're going to get a lot of candy, right?
[00:13:14] Speaker B: In the meantime, I've got Craig and his brother creeping along in the car every single house, watching the girls go up to get the candy. And both of them are like, oh, this is the most amazing thing. It reminds us so much of them.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: I mean, a couple of sappy fools.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: In that car reminding themselves of how much fun it was when the two of them were trick or treating. I'm like, oh, I got my mom laughing hysterically. I got my husband and his brother practically crying over the good memories they had. And I'm trying to get two little girls that barely speak English to go to the porches and get some Halloween candy. Let me tell you, it was without a doubt, a night to remember.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: I remember vividly that when we had finally made it through the end of the first block, they had definitely gotten.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: The hang of it.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: And when we crossed the street to the next block, they started running.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: They're running to the porches to get the candy and make sure that they could get to the next porch. I look at my mom, I'm like, we've created a couple of monsters now, right? Because they were so excited to get that candy in their bag, and they just couldn't wait to get more candy.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: So we spent probably about an hour and a half going through that neighborhood.
I wish I would have had a.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: Video tape with me, because I'd look back and there's the Oldsmobile creeping along the street.
There's my mom laughing hysterically. And the two of them are running top speed from house to house to get as much candy as they find possibly can get. It was one of the greatest memories of my life.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: And when I look back on those.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Pictures, it just melts my heart now. It was just such a wonderful, wonderful event, let's put it that way, for them. And really, as a family, we just enjoyed it so much.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: So we trick or treated for about an hour and a half. It's dark now.
You can just smell the leaves when you're walking. It's cooler out.
And we were all just having so much fun, but my mom was like.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Okay, I think they got enough candy to last them until Christmas. And I'm like, yeah, let's hope so.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: So Craig and his brother go, okay.
[00:16:09] Speaker B: Everybody back in the car. So we get back in the car.
[00:16:13] Speaker A: And we turn around, and Craig and his brother go, we're starving to death.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: Let's get a couple of pizzas. So we go back and we order a couple pizzas and the girls are like, pizza, we want to eat our candy.
[00:16:28] Speaker A: Why are.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Dad, why do you have to wait for a pizza? Right?
So, but we waited for the pizza. We got everything all situated and we got back home and everybody had pizza and candy. They.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: They couldn't wait to dump out their bags at home and see what kind of candy that they got. Because, of course, it's nothing like the.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Candy you get in Romania.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: They have chocolate bars over there, and most of them are filled. You've probably seen all that European candy when you go to the grocery stores, and it's always around a lot during Christmas. But even places like TJ Maxx or some of the other stores like that, the home goods stores, they carry all that European chocolate. It's usually big bars of chocolate. And then it's filled with, you know, could be filled with raspberry, strawberry, vanilla cream. Sometimes it's filled with chocolate.
And it's.
It's sweeter, I think, than some of the, you know, Hershey bars and stuff.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: That we get here.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: So it was fun for us to see what kind of candy that they were gonna really like. And at that time, that's when we really found out how much they loved candy.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: Believe me, that was a big thing for them.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: So they had a lot of candy bars and they were swapping things out with each other for what they thought they would like. And Mirella liked the Skittles, but they, both of them, and to this day, absolutely love chocolate.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: I would say chocolate is one of their most favorite things in life.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: And believe me, we had them to.
[00:18:26] Speaker B: The dentist many times because of the chocolate.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: But it was just a time that fills your heart, you know?
And now I see my friends taking their grandchildren trick or treating, and all of us are reminded of what it was like when we first took our kids trick or treating. It really is a fun time. We live in a neighborhood now that has 50 houses in it. And so we all look forward to all the kids coming to the door. And I already have my big wooden bowl filled with candy waiting for them to come tomorrow.
And it's, it's exciting. It's funny because when Craig and I were first married, we lived way out in the country.
And then we moved in town with the girls and my mom because we wanted to be in, in a better school system.
And so that when they went trick or treating there in those neighborhoods, they got full sized candy bars. They didn't get any mini candy bars.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: And so that was like, wow, we. We've hit the jackpot Moving Mom. That was one of the best things you ever did.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: But even later on when they were in seventh and eighth grade, they still went trick or treating with their friends. So I don't think they really stopped until they were going into high school.
And it's just a great, fun holiday. I'm glad that we have better ways to celebrate now so that our kids can be protected up here. There's a lot of apple orchards that will do the maze, the corn maze, and they have little celebrations for the kids with hot cider and pumpkins.
And so there's many ways to do it now. And even though there were evildoers out there that tried to ruin a holiday.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: They never really got to.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: And so good for all of us for hanging in there.
So Happy Halloween everyone. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Just a quick one today of a cool memory for me.
If you are interested in me telling your story on Milkweed and monarchs, just go on my website milk mon.com all one word m I l k m o n.com and you can leave me a message at the bottom of the page.
For your information, there's going to be a little bit of a hiatus between the episodes now. It probably won't get started again for a couple weeks.
We are copyrighted and so we're going to be posting them once a week, but I have to have a collection of them first in order to make the copyright, so I'm trying to record a bunch right up front now and then after that, so it'll probably be in a week or two.
They'll just automatically go out once a week so there won't be any kind of wavering in time from when I put them out. It'll be on a regular schedule and I hoping to post every Saturday morning. So you'll be able to look forward to that. I'll still put the information out on Instagram and Facebook and we're also looking for other venues too, so you shall be hearing about all of that in the near future.
Until the next time.
