As long as I live, I will never forget Halloween of 1985. My oldest daughter, Lisa, was ten years old at the time, and her sister, Kelly, had just turned six. It was their first year to go trick or treating on their own in our neighborhood. It was a safer time back then, but Mom and Dad did have rules that they had to follow. The kids had to stay within a three block perimeter of houses, only stop at houses with the porch light on, and had a time limit from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. The exact time was monitored at home by their mother, Doris. Lisa would also monitor the time by the cabbage patch wristwatch that she proudly wore on her arm.
The two tiny goblins were ecstatic as they dressed up in their costumes. Lisa wore a sparkling princess dress, and Kelly dressed as a bright, orange pumpkin. When I chaperoned them on previous Halloween nights, our last stop was always at the Rosemary Krantz house that was a couple of blocks over on a dead end street. Rosemary was an elderly widow that lived in an older two-story Victorian house that was sadly in disrepair. Her husband, Eldon, had passed away years before, so she lived alone and had no known relatives. She particularly loved to see my girls on Halloween and always put an extra large Hershey bar in each one of their sacks. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect she was not as generous to the other kids in the neighborhood. I had noticed her dropping candy corn in the sacks of other children that were in front of us before.
Soon it was time for the two to start out on their Halloween adventure. Doris repeated the ground rules. As they went out the front door, she reminded them to be polite and say thank you at each house.
Doris answered the door and handed out the treats at our house, while I sat in my recliner and watched the horror movie, ‘Halloween.’ I glanced at my watch every now and then, hoping the girls would return on time. Later on, the two came through the door with their bulging goodie bags. I felt relieved they were home, and it was also fifteen minutes early. Doris inspected their bags of treats as I listened to them ramble on about what fun they had trick or treating.
Doris held up two extra large Hershey candy bars. “Where did you get these?” Doris asked.
“Mrs. Krantz,” Kelly uttered.
“You saw Mrs. Krantz?” Doris asked.
“Yeah. She called us by name and told us happy Halloween, and we thanked her just like you told us to do,” Lisa replied.
My wife and I were speechless as we stared at each other. Rosemary Krantz had passed away over the summer and her house was completely empty. We hadn’t mentioned it to the girls, and her death had completely slipped our minds, until now.
I immediately drove over to the Krantz house. The weeds had grown up in the yard, and the windows and doors were boarded up. I shined the beam of my flashlight through the cracks in the boarded windows. The house was completely empty. I returned home and didn’t ask the girls any more questions. We never spoke of it again and I really don’t think they remembered any of it.
As long as I live, I will never forget Halloween of 1985. My oldest daughter,
Lisa, was ten years old at the time, and her sister, Kelly, had just turned six. It was their first year to go trick or treating on their own in our neighborhood. It was a safer time back then, but Mom and Dad did have rules that they had to follow. The kids had to stay within a three block perimeter of houses, only stop at houses with the porch light on, and had a time limit from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. The exact time was monitored at home by their mother, Doris. Lisa would also monitor the time by the cabbage patch wristwatch that she proudly wore on her arm.
The two tiny goblins were ecstatic as they dressed up in their costumes. Lisa wore a sparkling princess dress, and Kelly dressed as a bright, orange pumpkin. When I chaperoned them on previous Halloween nights, our last stop was always at the Rosemary Krantz house that was a couple of blocks over on a dead end street. Rosemary was an elderly widow that lived in an older two-story Victorian house that was sadly in disrepair. Her husband, Eldon, had passed away years before, so she lived alone and had no known relatives. She particularly loved to see my girls on Halloween and always put an extra large Hershey bar in each one of their sacks. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect she was not as generous to the other kids in the neighborhood. I had noticed her dropping candy corn in the sacks of other children that were in front of us before.
Soon it was time for the two to start out on their Halloween adventure. Doris repeated the ground rules. As they went out the front door, she reminded them to be polite and say thank you at each house.
Doris answered the door and handed out the treats at our house, while I sat in my recliner and watched the horror movie, ‘Halloween.’ I glanced at my watch every now and then, hoping the girls would return on time. Later on, the two came through the door with their bulging goodie bags. I felt relieved they were home, and it was also fifteen minutes early. Doris inspected their bags of treats as I listened to them ramble on about what fun they had trick or treating.
Doris held up two extra large Hershey candy bars. “Where did you get these?” Doris asked.
“Mrs. Krantz,” Kelly uttered.
“You saw Mrs. Krantz?” Doris asked.
“Yeah. She called us by name and told us happy Halloween, and we thanked her just like you told us to do,” Lisa replied.
My wife and I were speechless as we stared at each other. Rosemary Krantz had passed away over the summer and her house was completely empty. We hadn’t mentioned it to the girls, and her death had completely slipped our minds, until now.
I immediately drove over to the Krantz house. The weeds had grown up in the yard, and the windows and doors were boarded up. I shined the beam of my flashlight through the cracks in the boarded windows. The house was completely empty. I returned home and didn’t ask the girls any more questions. We never spoke of it again and I really don’t think they remembered any of it.