I do believe in ghosts – good ones, like an angel watching over us but not the scary kind. No siree. Don’t wanna look at them at all. I don’t like uncovered windows after dark – there might be someone looking in and I’ll see their reflection. Keep the sound of rattling chains away from me too– that’s spooky.

But this time of year it’s all over the place. I read that the amount of Halloween decorations are second only to Christmas. Driving through my son’s neighborhood on the west side – I can believe it! Makes my little jack-o-lantern w/electric light look bad.

I only took my kids & grand-kids to the un-spooky hours for the Children’s Museum Haunted House.  But when they got older they all went to the ‘real’ ones in Greenwood and Beech Grove. Having some guy chase me around the parking lot with a chain saw is not my idea of fun.

We used to do a haunted house for the younger kids at Sunday School (pretty lame by today’s standards I’m sure). The older kids got a kick out of scaring their siblings. And I did dress up in a witch’s outfit and play spooky music one year giving out Treats. My costumes are usually the kind you have to think about, a play on words; like the year I went as the tv show ‘Lost’ with pieces of maps and a compass attached to my shirt.

You’d think kids would learn by now how to get away with the pranks too. But a group of boys were stopped in a Walmart when security cameras saw them purchasing large amounts of toilet paper- they were not arrested, just didn’t get to buy it.  We stored it up for months just waiting for October 31.  I only did the TP thing a couple of times; once at my English teacher’s house – but he turned the porch light on so we had to lay in a cold, damp ditch for a long time. Then once at my Uncle’s house in Kentucky. They’d never heard of TPing so I showed my cousins how to do it.  Well, my Uncle was not amused and made us go out and take it all off the trees before we left for church. So much for my hooligan days!

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I celebrated a birthday recently and am still celebrating! My boss said he’s never seen anyone stretch out a birthday as long as I can. But, hey – it only comes once a year so I enjoy it to the max.  I was going to wax eloquent about the passing of another year but decided to keep it simple.

It’s been an interesting year – ups and downs as usual but nothing earth shattering until March & April. That’s when I found out several co-workers were being severanced (we don’t use down-sized anymore).  I’ve been at the same company for 30+ years and this happens as it does everywhere in corporate America. But maybe because I’m older and looking at the autumn of my life, this time is different.

I’ve worked with most of the folks for six years and made some lasting friendships. Some were long distance since we’re a global company but nonetheless, we became fast friends. We had meetings twice a year or so and they’d travel to Indy so we got to meet face-to-face and spend time together. Several work in the same building and we shared lunchtimes, discussing life problems and last nights DWTS results. I know their birthdays, kid’s names, favorite foods and drinks. We’d do things outside of work too: Girls Night Out, concerts, movies, holiday parties and volunteer events. Another difficult aspect is that I have to process their ‘termination’ (off-boarding in corporate speak) so yes, it’s hard on those staying behind.

One of them has been a friend for over 30 years – we’ve been through a lot together: divorces, re-marriages, re-locations, kids, grand-kids, health issues (human and animal) but always there when needed even from a distance.

It’s going to be a change knowing they’re not here every day. Yes, I know we can communicate through all kinds of technology, but not being able to see them every day will be different. So, I’ll take a deep breath and put those friendships in another category. It will be an effort but I’ll certainly try to keep in touch ’cause I want to be able to celebrate next year’s birthday with them!