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Though the word Halloween is a contraction of All Hallow Eve meaning the day before the Catholic feast day of All Hallowed or All Saints day, the festival goes back much further in time and essentially was a harvest festival connected to the birth-death cycle of the earth found in pre-Christian religions. While originally a religious holiday, today Halloween is celebrated more as a holiday for family to share some time together and, of course, as a means to generate revenue for costume and candy-makers.

I have always loved Halloween. One of the few good memories I have is of when I was a child before my mom and dad divorced, when my mom would make my Halloween costume by hand. In the 50's there were not the miles of aisles of pre-made costumes like there are today. The last costume I remember my mother making for me was when I was about 5 years old; it was a cat costume complete with tail. I remember that I was so proud of that tail swishing from side to side and thought I was very special because of it.

Treats back then were different. Though there was some store bought candy handed out by a few people, there was also fruit, cookies, popcorn balls and even money given as treats to keep the giver from being tricked by the little goblin at their door.

In today's vastly different world, Halloween has received a bad rap from many who either think it an evil holiday or others who take this opportunity to harm children. To combat this, many towns have Halloween nights where local stores are open just for the kids to come and trick or treat. Some towns have large parties at community centers or schools for children to come out and have fun in a safe environment. Hospitals provide free x-ray services to x-ray treats to make sure that they have not been tampered with. Sad, is it not?

As women truck drivers or as working women, many of us do not have time to be home to take our little children trick or treating as our moms did when we were children, nor do we have much time to devote to the time-consuming task of making a special costume for our kids or to bake special Halloween cookies. However, we can make time, if we choose to do something special for ourselves as well as for our children.

If you are a woman driver and can make arrangements to get home, spending time with your child on the Halloween holiday will make it special for them and for you, too. If you can get home the day before, it does not take much time, if you work with other family members, to make a quick costume or get to the store to buy one. Talk to your child before you get home and plan what they want to dress up as; this will make it easier for you to pre-plan what to get, and you can even buy materials on the road at a convenient store.

If you cannot get home, be a part of your child care provider's plans to make Halloween special for your children. Get the grandparents or the aunties and uncles involved and help them plan how to make a costume and to make sure that your child gets to a local Halloween event. Then make sure that you call your child when they get home after whatever they have been doing to hear a recap of their fun.

For all working women, including truckers, a party is not too much trouble to get together for the kids; it just takes a little planning. Call your child's friend's parents and plan the party together; more hands makes less work. Ask one of the dads to find a barrel for apple bobbing; make up a bowl of cooked spaghetti for those ‘gross' bowls for kids to stick their hands into in the dark; buy pumpkins for decoration (if you paint them instead of cutting them, you can then eat them later as you would cooked squash); hit the local grocery store for Halloween cakes and cookies, and buy your own bags of candy for the kids to share. Nothing has to be too fancy, just fun and easy.

The most important thing to remember is how proud you were, as a kid, of having your mom or dad take time to be with you as you walked along the dark streets. You were spending time with the ones you loved and having fun, so remember that Halloween is a fun time and should be for the adults as well as the children.

I, like many of you, do not have any children to share Halloween with; this does not mean that Halloween still cannot be fun for us adults. Last year I meant to get a huge witch's hat to wear that day while driving down the road; life intervened and I did not get it done. However, I think this year I will plan a little more in advance and get one or hitch a jack-o-lantern to the grill of the truck; perhaps I'll even do both.

At least I will be honoring the Halloween holiday, have some fun myself and, who knows? It might even make someone else smile to see me in a big witch's hat, and isn't that the reason for the Halloween holiday - to have fun? It might not make me as proud as that cat costume did when I was five, or allow me to see the light in a child's eyes as they get a really good treat at my door, and you might not get home to be with your children but, in some way, we all can be part of a larger holiday even while driving a truck. It just takes a little extra planning.

Ya'll be safe!!