Children are precious gifts that radiate purity that most of us adults have long since purged from our bodies.  Every creation, natural or man-made, is wondrously new and exciting to them.  Life exists in a world filled with magic and splendor amplified only by the one true way to live, being sensorially submerged in the present moment.

One of the major treats of being a dad (other than getting poop under my fingernails) is watching my son (and soon, daughter) morph into something beautifully human.  I get the opportunity to experience the nuances of life through another pair of eyes.  It’s as if I get to be reborn.

Worm, You’re Quite Possibly the Least Scariest and Most Huggable Monster In the Universe!

This Halloween we didn’t buy enough candy, we destroyed our pumpkins and we forgot to cook up any caramel apples.  With the hustle of life with a toddler, the wife and I did not get or make any Halloween outfits for ourselves.  We even waited until the last day of October to fetch one for the Worm.  Spider or monster?  And even at 4pm that same day, we were debating whether or not Steph should return home sans costume.  I tried to make amends with myself for the half-hearted attempt, but gnawing inside was the idea  that I could have done more to make my favorite holiday what I wanted so badly for it to be, memorable.

The pint-sized outfit accompanied Steph home from work.  And just as soon as the little monster was stuffed inside, all of my holiday shortcomings disappeared and I forgot about our imperfect Halloween.  The Worm had me entranced.  The twice discounted and finally clearanced costume became his skin.  Where there were once small hands, two furry little claws happily snatched at candy from the bowl.  His floppy new feet skipped across the kitchen floor, all the while jiggling the sewn-in polka-dotted pot belly on every step.  Giggles, squeals and laughter were this monster’s fierce sounds and it filled the house with its infectious energy.  The blue costume became the embodiment of all that defines the spirit of Halloween for me and as quickly as Worm absorbed the new threads as part of himself, he consumed me as well.  I could not take my eyes off of him.

Halloween has a special place in my heart.  I have fond memories of the fall season and everything about it resonates in me.  I still get giddy when the season approaches and melancholic as it leaves.  So seeing the joy on Worm’s face this past Halloween brought up those great memories and feelings from years gone.  That evening, Worm and I shared a moment so similar yet so different, that I’m stuck with a loss of words to describe it.  On the surface, I not only saw him, but saw my own childhood as well.  And underneath, I recognized a sliver of myself that would carry on in him after my body has completely failed.  The very definition of fatherhood was as apparent as the little blue monster standing in front of me.  It touched me so hard that I was crushed by its magnitude.  I realized in that moment I had been born again.

Gavin – 18; Dad – 7 (You really made this Halloween special Worm!  Thanks!)

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