Why Halloween Is My Christmas

As a Jewish girl growing up in a diverse community, I was surrounded by a variety of cultural celebrations and traditions that were different than my own. While I appreciated this exposure, there was one holiday that was by far my favorite: Halloween.

I didn't realize it at the time, but my enthusiasm for this Fall holiday had little to do with the tricks or the treats. It was all about the seemingly more inclusive yearly traditions that my family, friends, and I could all partake in together. It didn't matter whether one was Jewish, Catholic, or agnostic — we all got dressed up and went roaming for candy without anyone being left out.

Every year for Halloween, my dad and I would completely decorate the house. We would also religiously hit the stores on Nov. 1 on the hunt for newly discounted decor items to add to our holiday collection for the following year. I might not have been able to hang a Christmas wreath on my door in December (much to my 10-year-old Martha Stewart-worshiping heart's dismay!), but there was certainly a festive orange and black one hanging by the start of October. I counted down the days until I could go shopping for my costume and lived for the school parties.

Looking back, it seems obvious that my appreciation for our traditional pizza dinner every single Halloween night and the coveted trip to the pumpkin patch was because, in a sense, Halloween was my Christmas. It was something I got to look forward to, prepare for, and indulge in by celebrating for weeks leading up to the big day. I tuned in for the yearly movies counting down to the big day and I could show my holiday spirit to all of my neighbors with the impressive thought that went into my carved pumpkin. And not to say that I didn't appreciate the unique aspects of Hanukkah and Passover just as much as I enjoyed the more universal holidays like New Year's Eve and Thanksgiving, but there was just something different about Halloween.

As a little girl who took comfort in tradition and felt excluded from many holidays, Halloween was most definitely my Christmas.