Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the autumn colors, the crisp feeling in the air as the day of spooks and goblins approaches. We decorate the yard with jack o'lanterns, ghosts and witches. Our trick or treaters get the good candy - chocolate, tootsie pops and even pixie sticks.

The parade of little ghosts and goblins begins about dusk and continues until at least 8 o'clock. It is an American tradition. Although, in these days of political correctness. many of our American traditions are being tossed aside or changed to please special interest groups. My generation grew up donning costumes and trick or treating and we managed to turn out just fine. Schools now ban Halloween activities, no more costume parties and silly games. But trick or treating goes on.

My sisters and I loved to dress up in our carefully chosen costumes, in those days this usually consisted of a vinyl outfit and a plastic mask with a string in the back. The masks were hot and made it difficult to breath, so by the end of the night most kids were wearing them on the top of their head instead of their face. But through the cold night and the hot masks we persevered, going from house to house collecting our reward for all the suffering. This is where my love of Halloween began.

Being that I loved all those very traditional Halloween things, it is ironic that my fondest Halloween memory is one that involved no trick or treating at all. I grew up on a farm in rural Oklahoma. October in Oklahoma could be very cold. Trick or treaters usually had to bundle up in coats. This particular October, old man winter made an early appearance. It began to rain ice late in the afternoon. By the time we would have normally left to go into town for trick or treating, everything was a sheet of ice.

My Granddad made the sad announcement that there would be no trick or treating this year. That announcement made for three very unhappy little girls. Our costumes remained in their boxes along with our excitement for Halloween.

My Grandmother seeing the disappointment on our faces, attempted to save the night. She brought out the Sorry game, popped some popcorn and declared we would make our own fun. That was when the electricity went out. Now we are in total darkness. Undaunted, she lit some candles and we began to play Sorry. We played the game, talked, laughed and listened to the ice hit the windows. Perfect scary story weather!

The next day we awoke to huge drifts of snow. There was no school and we had the whole day before us to do whatever we wanted.

At the time we thought we had lost out by missing trick or treating, but now it is a beautiful memory. I don't remember too much about all the trick or treating I did as a child, but I do remember the icy Halloween night I spent with my grandparents and my sisters. Now that my grandparents are gone and those Halloweens are in the distant past, I treasure that night and the most special Halloween memory of my life.