YOU are the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

The last time I went trick or treating was in high school (apparently, shame does not come easily to me).  It was 1978 and I'd foolishly chosen to go with the tallest of my friends--Julie Watts.  Towering right around six feet, with a joyful, booming voice, Julie was a terrific, fun friend.  But, because of her height, she also was the very worst person a sixteen year old could chose for a night of pillaging the neighbors' candy supplies.

While we still managed to fill our  pillowcases that night with an impressive array of chocolate-covered booty, we also collected an unenviable pile of cold stares, muttered insults and general disdain. . . as though a teenager needs yet another supply of such things.

Looking back, do I regret that candy-and-laughter-and-shame-filled evening with a fine friend who died too young?

Not so much.

As I type this--a smattering of emptied candy wrappers collecting at my feet--I think of the human riches I've collected in this life.  Kind and funny and generous people who, like candy gathered on a crisp fall evening, fill me with wonder and joy, minus the empty calories.

More than once, I've told my own children that they really only need one or two good friends in their lives.  Usually, this advice has come on the tail of disappointment.  But the timing of my advice has nothing to do with its truth, which holds steady through all seasons, all circumstances.

Human kindness is the real treasure of this life, and we should seek it out and give it away with the same joy that possesses the toddling Luke Skywalker who greets us on our doorsteps each Halloween.