You know, I’ve never been a trick-a-treater kid growing up, I felt that it was a bit intimidating knocking on people’s doors asking for sweets. The one thing my mom didn’t want us eating and something we can buy. I grew up in two very different worlds, born in NYC and raised in the Dominican Republic as a roman catholic, so chocolate and sweets were not something I saw or wanted. Our family is traditional and really did believe in rice and beans with meat, either chicken or beef. For dessert, it would be a tres leches flan, a cake or an arepa with raisins. When Halloween came around in NYC, I felt like I wasn’t true to my Hispanic heritage but what about my American heritage, why did I feel the neglect? Could it be because I didn’t want chocolate or my desire for Halloween was the same one for Thanksgiving, just the joy of being together with friends and family? I guess at the end that is what it represents to me, a day that I can be with my friends, enjoy chocolate and sweets and no, no haunted feelings.
