I love fall. A little cooler. Pumpkin patches filled with beautiful orange color. Dreams of sneaking away for a weekend to see those leaves just a few hours north. Preparing to celebrate being thankful and giving to loved ones.
But I hate Halloween.
We watch as yet another school recovers from a student shooting his teacher and classmates. We are speechless and grieve. We don't let our young children out of our sight. Ever. For fear of someone doing the unthinkable. We hear of another young soldier killed in the violence in Iraq and beg God for peace.
Yet most celebrate violence this month. Horrible billboards that make 2-year-olds question clowns. Drugstores where we check out next to a bloody head with a knife pierced through the skull. Costume displays that beckon us to adorn ourselves with death. The city is filled with glorified displays of evil this time of year.
Celebrate beauty and strive for a peaceful season, not one filled with images that all too often imitate the truths that make us shudder.
CAROLINE WRIGHT
Orlando