Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's full of ghosts and ghouls, witches and warlocks, mischief and mayhem. And candy. Can't forget candy. And costumes!
I've always loved dressing up. Whether it's on Halloween or in my grandmother's basement, wearing clothes I wouldn't normally put on has always been enjoyable for me. Most weeks, going to church feels like playing dress-up. I play the role of a god-fearing woman who's hoping her lesson will go well in Sunday School. When I go to events on behalf of UIRC, I'm dressing up like a woman who knows her shit and will absolutely educate you about infertility.
The costumes are only a part of what makes Halloween so great. When I was a kid, I had a completely irrational phobia of death. I thought I could be kidnapped and murdered at any time. I thought I might fall off a bridge and drown, despite being an excellent swimmer... and despite there being no rushing rivers to fall into in my hometown. I just knew that I was going to meet a gruesome end before I got the chance to turn 16 and start driving (the epitome of human existence in my 10-year-old opinion). Halloween though made death less frightening. The ghosts and witches were more funny than scary, and after every Halloween it got easier and easier to get past my fears.
I remember one Halloween I finally embraced my fear of death and embodied it. I borrowed a lab coat from a man at church (he was a dentist), made myself a name tag, and went out as a figure I barely understood but who did not seem to have any fear of death: Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
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