My husband was a man, a big kid actually, who loved Halloween and everything about it. Every fall, we drove out into the country, when it didn’t take so long to find the bare countryside, to look for the perfect pumpkins. Everybody had to have their own, with his being the biggest one. This was one of those holidays when I was along for the ride because I wasn’t good at making costumes and he was in charge of the carving and I just made popcorn balls and caramel apples and handed out the treats on the big night while he walked the streets with the kids and other fathers in the neighborhood.
We didn’t take as many photos in those days of film and flashbulbs, but I treasure the ones I have, especially now that my husband and son are both gone. I’m pretty sure they have pumpkins in heaven however. No doubt in my mind that they are getting ready for the big night in whatever afterlife they inhabit. 
By the time our grandchildren were born, the pumpkin patch had expanded with animals and rides and photo ops galore. Taking the grandkids to the patch was a way to keep my own kids’ memories alive and well. So there are lots of pictures of these kids, now in high school, getting their pumpkins, just as their parents did. 
And their parents take pictures that are part of the family tradition, the things that remind us of the best of times and hold us together in all times. All my grandchildren are in middle school or high school now, except for the youngest, my son’s daughter. He went to the patch with his nephews and niece when he was in college…
And took his own daughter for her first visit, his last before he died. 
She gets to go back now, following family traditions, making her own. 
They say that all we can really give our children are memories, and these are some of the best. These days I look at my family and go back to look at the years that have done by way too quickly and I’m strengthened by the continuity of the traditions and the love I see in the photos. The Pumpkin Patch is important in our family, but so are other traditions. We can all make our own…and should. 
Confetti Thoughts 