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Today’s Blog Post
As I carried the Pumpkin into the senior’s home, the thought struck me, “This is crazy! These people are so far from Pumpkins that it isn’t funny!”
At that moment I was walking into one of the Senior Citizen homes in Peterborough. This is so far away from the world of Halloween one cannot imagine. The setting is beautiful and the people are wonderful, kind and definitely not “Trick or Treaters”. In fact it has been years and years since these seniors have even given out candy at the door to children that come knocking on Halloween Night.
But the idea is that they do have memories and at one time, a long time ago they were little girls and boys. They used to walk the streets from door to door and call out, “Halloween Apples candy or cake, if you don’t shell out your toilet will shake!”
I couldn’t believe that at least half of the group used to yell that particular saying at the door of their would-be-benefactors that might give out candy to them! The really funny part was that half the group had been raised in areas of the city where they never heard that cheer before!
Pause… in case you have never heard that saying before either…
The cheer or greeting was given in small communities where each resident still had out door toilets sitting out behind their house. The idea was that if the home owner didn’t give the Halloween Tricksters some candy, the kids would come back and tip over their toilet. In the small community that I lived in Regina, Saskatchewan; tipping toilets was something that you just did for fun. If someone was inside the toilet it was even more fun when you did it… specially if the toilet landed on its front door… and the person inside couldn’t get out!
Some of the Seniors in the group remembered tipping over people’s toilets! Believe it or not!!! Too funny.
Carrying a rather large pumpkin into the home definitely brought comments and questions. One person called out, “Are you going to carve a pumpkin?”
They immediately knew my reason for bringing the pumpkin!
I had brought my tools of the pumpkin carving trade, two different small paring knives and a medium sized steak knife, some paper towels, and a large black plastic bag. This could get messy and this home is not a place that is too messy… it is classy – not messy!
I situated the chairs and tables so that everyone could watch. Then for the next 60 minutes I slowly carved the big pumpkin one feature at a time… stopping in between each stage to show the folks what was coming. I had great sidewalk superintendents!
In between each cut I asked them questions about what they remembered about their childhood days. The stories started to come. And each one had many memories. They giggled and laughed at each other. They were little kids again all over.
Now their own kids will come. They bring their grandchildren and even their great grandchildren. They talk about how mom is doing. Ask if she is sleeping well or not. They ask about the food and the home and the stuff that should keep their 88 year old mother happy.
They never talk about Grandma’s days as a little girl going from house to house asking for candy. They just don’t have time.
This is the “New Friends” group that I started almost two years ago. The purpose was to encourage interaction and talking between the ladies and men that would attend. And it has worked so well.
Yesterday was fun. They watched a crazy face come from the Pumpkin’s surface. It was just plain delight! It was not such a crazy idea after all. In fact it may well become a new part of the annual program from now on!
I am including the rest of the photos for you to look at and consider the possibilities.
Now go find some old people to talk to. Listen to their stories. Get them to talk about the way that it used to be. In doing that, you will discover your own childhood again.
No one laughs more than I do at “New Friends”!
~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
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