One Halloween, when I was a little kid, I had a Transformer costume.
That memory stands out because I wanted to dress as a police officer or anyone else carrying a gun but my parents did not approve of toy guns. For a while, it appeared everything was off limits except Casper. Finally, we both agreed on a Transformer and, I think if my parents had seen the cartoon ever, we'd still be arguing in the aisle of the store.
But I got to be a Transformer and I was so excited because my parents are vegans. We were raised with no meat. We also didn't do sweets. The exceptions were one of our birthdays (when we could have cake and ice cream -- real ones, none of those soy-based substitutes) and on holidays involving candy such as Christmas, Easter and, best of all, Halloween.
At this point, I had enough Halloween's under my belt to grasp that this was the Candy Sweepstakes of the year. This was when you got candy, when everybody got candy, and you could eat and eat until the next day when your parents started thinning down your stash.
So I was going to go as a Transformer. Not my first choice, but a cool one still. And I was going to get candy. And both were a big deal.
My dad picked us up at school and I'd worn my costume to school that day. We were all excited about the trick or treating which would start as soon as it got dark. But on the ride home, something happened.
I puked.
Into my mask, splashing the puke back on my face and dribbling it all over my costume.
When we got home, I was being told by my parents that they could wash the costume and clean the mask because I knew I wasn't going trick or treating. They didn't get that yet. It took a few seconds at the table when I again threw up for them to realize I hadn't just had some candy at school, I was actually sick.
With the flu.
A Halloween at home in bed is an awful day for any kid but what if you're a kid that only gets candy on three holidays a year? We didn't get it when we went to the store. We didn't get it anytime except for Christmas, Easter and Halloween. And I was sick to my stomach and pissed to the max.
So there I was stuck at home for Halloween and, let me tell you, I never hated Linus more than when I was sick and had to watch the Peanuts special and listen to him whine about the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
At some point I fell asleep and only woke up to puke. A few days after, when I was feeling better, I went into my toy box to pull out some cars and found instead all of this candy.
My sister had split half of her candy with me. Not because she was asked to (no one asked her to -- my parents still thought the candy had made me sick even though I had the flu). But just because she felt sorry for any kid who had to skip Halloween.
We fought constantly over the years but, repeatedly, when I was sick or troubled, she always came through for me.
That Halloween was the first time I realized that.