Simpler Life

Homemade costumes, a friendly neighborhood to trick-or-treat, and grainy, black and white photographs—that was my Halloween childhood.

I’m not pining for the “good old days.” Growing up in the 1960s had its own challenges.


But I will say this: life felt simpler.


Like Boomers say, we only had three television stations, and our telephones were attached to the wall. 


We went to school and then home—not so many after-school activities.


On Halloween night, I’d walk around the block in a costume Mom made from whatever we had at home— a pillowcase, some cardboard, and a lot of imagination. I knocked on doors of neighbors I actually knew. 


Progress moves us forward, and people are more connected online than ever before. But sometimes I miss the simple life—like those old Halloweens, when joy was running door-to-door, seeing smiling neighbors, and knowing next year would be just the same.


Maybe simplicity is still here. It just needs to be invited back home.


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