Celebrating a birthday on Halloween.

Happy Halloween to all!

And happy birthday to my father who is celebrating his 74th birthday today! Yep, while the rest of the world is commemorating Halloween, our family is celebrating our father's birthday. There's every reason to celebrate as my father has reached this milestone in his life and he is blessed with good health, a healthy body and a sound mind. Not everybody is given the privilege to celebrate his or her 70th year on this earth much less the 74th so for this we are full of gratitude.

Happy birthday, Tatay!!!


Still on Halloween, if you’re wondering what the term Halloween means, I did a bit of research for you. According to Wikipedia, it is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even" and "eve" are abbreviations of "evening," but "Halloween" gets its "n" from "even") as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day," which is of course now also known as the All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions.

The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.

So this is where this celebration originated… Again, happy Halloween to all!