Halloween 09

One of my favorite days has come and gone. Many of my fond childhood memories are drawn from this one particular day. It was the one time of year when I would routinely go out with my mom trick or treating. Once I hit the tender age of 10, I began going out with my friends. Asking friendly strangers for candy was fun, but the best part was coming home and sorting out your candy. Reese's Cup were high on my list and Rockets were always dead last. Every kid had their own preferences and ranking systems. The chocolates were always devoured first. Once those were eaten up, I would go on to eat the jelly candies, such as the Sour Patch Kids or Swedish Berries. The Rockets would sit dormant and ashamed in the fridge waiting for me to finally eat them as a last resort. I never really had that great of a costume growing up but that really didn't matter too much. Thanks to my trek across Canada, I finally woke up again and realized what really mattered most to me, family and community. I am glad to be embracing these desires.

On Halloween Day, myself and 5 other Third World members ran Arts and Crafts at Britannia Community Center as part of their Halloween festivities. The event turned out to be a huge success. When I received notice from Jessica that I would be running this thing, I was super excited but cautious at the same time. Here I was, 4 weeks away from planning an event even though I had never participated in anything like it. I guess I did not have a normal western childhood but I still grew up a happy kid. For some of the kids participating in the arts and crafts event it might have been their first time. I was happy to see them in their super awesome costumes, because it was my first time as well. We ran a bat making station, a spider making one, a ghost making one, a cape decorating station and one where the kids colored in pumpkins and cut them out. The volunteers gave up a few hours in their day and over 120 kids were able to enjoy a happy Halloween activity because of it. Amidst the occasional doubt and worries that surround planning this thing, I remembered why I was doing it and that kept me pushing forward. As an honorarium for doing this event, I was paid $100.00 and all of this money will be donated to The Third World for our Street Missions.

On Halloween night, I took my little cousin Linton and his friend Martin trick or treating. This was my first time doing it in 6 years. I found out that night that it was acceptable for a 22 year old with a tiger face paint job to ask for candy. To my surprise, by the end of the night I had collected one full bag of candy. Two days later, 95% of the candy is gone, only the Rockets remain.

You must be wondering if there was a party-animal side to me lost in this sea of responsibility and being sort of a grown-up? Turns out I partied pretty hard the night before with a room full of costumed strangers in a crowded condo. In my sobriety I thought it would be a good idea to vacate the first party and head over to Burnaby. Luckily for me, I did not miss out on any action. In the 30 minutes that I was there; I witnessed 2 fights and was given some free beer. Waking up on Halloween day was rough but as you have already read I had a good day.

P.S. When someone offers you a chance to be a Tiger, you take it