Saturday, 12 September 2026

Halloween and a September Memory

I found this meme online, at the beginning of the month. I wanted to share it today before it gets too deep in the month. My wife would agree that this is very me. It also reminded me of an anecdote from my childhood. My brother PJ's birthday is in October. Because of this, we prepared his birthday during the month of September. When we went to the shop to buy decorations and accessories for his birthday party, we often took the opportunity to check and buy Halloween decorations too, as they had starting getting on sales. One Saturday after lunch, around mid-September, before going to the shops, my brothers and I first stopped to talk to my best friend, who lived on the same street as me. I was all enthusiastic about the afternoon's plans, so I told him we were going to go Halloween shopping. My friend looked at me disdainfully and said: "It's way too early for Halloween!" His father had the same disdainful reaction, using the exact same words. I changed the topic, but the conversation felt awkward and my friend remained cold and aloof, borderline rude at times. After a few minutes, we excused ourselves and went shopping. Years later, we ended up growing apart. It's nothing dramatic, it happens to a lot of childhood friends, they rarely all survive teenage and adulthood. But I always suspected that it had started that day. My friend had no interest whatsoever towards my favourite holiday. Fair enough, but he didn't have to be so dismissive about it.

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