What I Remember

As I was at the grocery store the other day I took time to peruse the Halloween candy. I'm torn between offering good candy to the kids and not going broke buying candy for the hundreds of trick or treaters. It was tempting to buy the candy right then but that would have been pure foolishness. Neither John or I have any self control when it comes to candy so there would have been little hope of the candy actually making it to Halloween. Seeing the Halloween candy made me think of a past Halloween.

In my house growing up the kids made it difficult for the candy to last until Halloween so the candy was kept under lock and key (literally, my mom had it padlocked in a metal box). I do remember one year however where my mom brought out the Halloween candy early. It was twenty years ago tonight. It was the the night of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. If your are not from the Bay Area you probably think of it as the San Francisco earthquake but the epicenter wasn't really close to San Francisco. But that is besides the point.

I remember that afternoon complaining to my mom in our backyard. What was I complaining about? Well I was nine, so of course I was complaining that I was bored. Moments later the earthquake struck. I was a Californian and this wasn't my first earthquake, but I knew that it was a big one. It only lasted 15 seconds, really a short quake, but it was a 6.9, and large enough to wreck havoc. My family was really blessed. Plenty of broken dishes and other small material things, and minimal damage to the house, but we were all safe.

My Dad and older sister were at work and of course the phone lines were wiped out so we couldn't get a hold of them. I was worried about them but my Mom was calm (or at least she pretended to be), so that eased my fears. Since the entire Bay Area was headed home at the same time their normal 30 minute commute stretched to hours but they arrived home safely. Out of the whole day though, one thing stands out, and that is what we did that evening.

We did what my family does best. We sat around and talked. My Mom got out the bag of candy she had bought for Halloween and we sat around the kitchen table talking and eating candy. I actually enjoyed the evening. I remember ward members who lived nearby coming to our house to check on us. As scary as the situation could have been, sitting around with my family listening to stories and eating candy, it was a great night. I really got to appreciate my family and what really matters that night.

It's funny how out of everything that went on that night, what is most clear is eating Halloween candy and talking with my family. I can still remember what the bag of candy looked like,and the bubble gum that was in it. I know my kids are going to go through scary situations in their life but I hope what they remember most is the time we spent together.