Overkill?

At Rosewood this month my mother has decorated both a big pumpkin and a little pumpkin. She has made a Halloween pillow. She has competed in the Spook-tacular spelling contest. She has played Halloween bingo and Halloween hangman. Last week they had a ghost scavenger hunt. On Monday the monthly birthday party featured, you guessed it, orange and black cupcakes. Today a local day care center brought costumed children to sing Halloween carols to all the residents. On Friday they will have a costume contest for the residents complete with a magic show. Later Friday Rosewood will sponsor trick-or-treating for residents' grand and great-grandchildren. Every available wall in the building is covered with ghosts and black cats and pumpkins and gravestones. Whew!

Now, the last thing I'd ever do is criticize the nursing home for offering a multitude of interesting activities for the residents. They've had a lot of fun.

I can't help but think, however, about the weirdness of our culture at Halloween. Am I the only one that thinks it's VERY strange to be celebrating all sorts of macabre things with a population that experiences the death of one of their community almost every week? How weird is it that the people who often see someone being taken out in a body bag are not given any opportunity to mourn but, nonetheless, are encouraged to "play" with ghosts and monsters? Is it not strange that a community that is 60% Jewish spends the entire month observing a holiday rooted in Middle Ages Christianity?

On a happy note, however, Kevin informs me that I am safe from vampires. At a routine doctor visit yesterday, the nurse had a terrible time drawing blood from my skinny deep veins. After four needle sticks, she finally filled one of the three required vials and said they'd somehow make due with the limited amount of blood I was able to donate to the cause. Sorry Bela!