Halloween is my Roman Empire

The last Halloween before we left. That's me on the right in the flapper dress. I won "Best Costume" in a contest that year.

When I was 11, not only did I become a “young lady”—as my mom used to say—but my family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Even though my parents will not admit it, I was a “no sabo” kid. I spoke Spanish—but not enough to take a full school curriculum. Everything I ever knew was gone: my home in California, my best friends from school, the language I knew well, McDonald’s, root beer, maple syrup, and Doritos! The worst thing was Halloween. It was GONE. October would come around, and not only was it spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but it was the month to celebrate NOTHING. No cozy, chilly weather, no jack-o’-lanterns, costumes, parties, school parades—NADA! I felt a longing for a proper fall (don’t get me started on Christmas; it was in the middle of summer), a kind of nostalgia an elderly person feels about their youth. There wasn’t even a way to recreate it, except with art. Drawing Halloween-themed pictures, monsters, and ghosts was as close as I was going to get to my beloved holiday. Nine years without Halloween was hard, but I would try to buy spooky American books in English to stay connected emotionally. I feel that this longing in my youth made me appreciate October even more; the buildup towards the month, buying candy, decorations, and thinking of a fun costume to wear starts way before.

Today, as September rolls in, I am already in Halloween mode. One leaf on the ground? Halloween mode. The Halloween section being set up at Target? Halloween mode. So, that is why I say Halloween is my Roman Empire. It’s exciting, it’s fun, and it makes my inner child happy. I feel like almost all my art has a whisper of Halloween somehow, don’t you think?