Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913

That Halloween Smell

Halloween – a time for costumes, ghosts, goblins and monsters. It's always so fun to see the children dressed up as their favorite character.

For me, Halloween brings back the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and the Friday night horror movie.

Every Friday during my teenage years, I made chocolate chip cookies. All but one dozen of them would be put away. That dozen cookies were put on a plate and covered to keep them fresh and moist. Because they were for me and Dad when he got home from work.

My dad worked the second shift in a factory. Second shift was from 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. Dad got home around 12:45. He would empty his lunch bucket, rinse it out, and put it and his thermos away.

Then Dad and I each filled a glass with milk, picked up the plate of cookies, and went to the living room. Dad sat down in his recliner while I turned on the television so we could watch the Friday night horror movie. I sat on the couch and as the movie came on, Dad and I ate our cookies as we watched it.

But the movie took second place for me. What was more important was that I had some time alone with Dad. He would talk about his day, then ask me how mine went. We talked about current events, made plans for the weekend. The list of topics we discussed was endless.

All too soon it seemed, those years disappeared. I married, moved away, and started my own family. One day, remembering those nights Dad and I watched a movie and ate cookies, I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies and watch a late night movie. As I sat in my rocker savoring the taste of cookies and cold milk, I felt Dad was sitting next to me.

I realized that all along he'd been teaching me it's important for parents to spend time with their children, even if it's nothing more than having fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk while they talk about whatever is on their minds.

 

Reader Comments(0)