A Very Quinn Halloween

 Halloween 1993

Halloween was always a highlight for the Quinn family. The majority of my memories are shared with my brothers Conor and Pat, simply because they're the closest in age. Months were spent picking out the best costume, which was usually a pirate, a ninja turtle, or a football player for them and a fairy or a princess for me. We live in what's arguably the best neighborhood in town for trick-or-treating and had some precious intel from our older brothers about what houses were a must-go and which were a major-skip (i.e.the ones that gave those popcorn balls, ew). It was a strategic event for us; how could we get not only the most candy, but also the best candy, in the shortest amount of time? A challenge we happily accepted.

Our Halloween day would go a little something like this:

• 8am-3pm-Sit in school all day anticipating the evening
• 3pm-3:05pm-Upon arriving back home, IMMEDIATELY change into costume 
• 3:05pm-5:30pm-Sitting, waiting, watching the clock tick
• 5:30pm-6:00pm-Dinner
• 6:00pm-6:30-Organize pumpkin candy buckets, ghost flashlights and finalize costumes
• 6:30pm-It's go time
• 8:30pm-Arrive back home, exhausted, face-makeup smudged, but with a gold mine of sweets
• 8:30-9:30pm-Trade candy-like it's the NFL draft
• 9:30pm-Collapse into bed

I can't stress how important the trade portion of the evening was to us. After carefully arranging all of our loot in a strategic fashion on the living room floor, the trading process began. Obviously, there was a hierarchy of candy. Reese's peanut butter cups trumped all. They were the most powerful bartering tool. Supply and demand, catch my drift? "I'll give you four packs of Nerds for one Reese's peanut butter cup." "I'll give you two Milkyway's for a Snickers." "I'll give you ALL of my Almond Joys for your big Hershey's bar." (Almond Joys were always a tough sell). This went on for what seemed like forever until we were all happy with what we got. Best part? My parents dumped it all into one bag the next day and we all happily shared anyway. But it was a blast and I have some of my best memories from our trick-or-treating days.

I can't wait for the next Halloween, where I will undoubtedly be taking my nephew on his first trick-or-treating experience. As for this Halloween, I thought I'd share some comedy from Crest:

And with that, I wish everyone a happy, safe and super fun Halloween!

Do you have any Halloween traditions? What was the best candy in your house? Comment or share!

As always, "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."-AB

The Dating Game

One of the most frequent reactions I receive when people hear I have four older brothers is, "OH MY GOODNESS, you poor thing, I can't imagine how you ever dated anyone." The answer is you don't. Until your brother leaves the high school and you finally experience freedom for the first time. Just kidding! But seriously, tell a guy you have four brothers and you might as well have an extremely contagious, terminal illness because that's how fast they'll run.

Growing up, my brothers used to joke and say things like, "You can't date until you're married. And you can't get married until you're 30." They were relentless; plotting what they'd say or do to any guy who tried to date me. To add insult to injury, all four of my brothers proceeded me in high school and I even overlapped with Pat for two years. I was always "Quinny's sister." Try rolling up to school everyday with your captain-of-the-football-team brother in a Ford F150 and then try and find a date to prom. Not going to happen.

Pat graduating high school was a BIG game changer. Free at last, free at last, thank the dating God's, I was free at last. I didn't have to worry about walking in the halls with a boy and all of a sudden feeling a large presence behind me, demanding the innocent, male walking partner leave me alone and get to class.

But then came actually DATING someone. My 16-year-old self was in totally uncharted territory. I started seeing someone, and of course my parents relayed the message to my brothers. Pat knew the guy from three years of going to high school with him (he was a year older than me) and seemed to (somewhat) approve. He was a nice guy, played golf, which proved to be KEY, and was as upstanding as a high school senior can be. As long as he didn't play soccer I knew I was in the clear. Soccer was an immediate disqualification according to my brothers (dually noted by me.)

Thus began the dating phase. And this is a picture from my prom. It speaks a thousand words.

Pat, my date (Pete), and my dad

Of course, Pat had to come home from college just to remind Pete big brother is ALWAYS watching. The acceptance process of the baby girl of the family having a boyfriend must have been difficult for my dad and brothers. After all, they are supposed to be my protectors and keep me out of trouble and away from teenage boys. But the inevitable happened and the men in my life were forced to loosen the dating reigns. 

Long story short, four and half years later Pete and I are still dating. Maybe it's because the probability of me finding any other suitable partner that gets along with all four brothers and my father is about as likely as hell freezing over. And I guess anyone who braves the five Quinn men for my affection deserves at least a little bit of credit.

Despite the years of torment, as much as it pains me to admit, and my bratty high school self would kill me for saying this, it turns out their influence was actually positive. It certainly deterred me from dating anyone who I couldn't see my brothers getting along with and separated the men from the boys. In return, I am always the first to meet any girl who comes into any of my brothers lives. The only difference is that a 5'2'' little blonde girl isn't all that threatening and I'm not too hard to impress. Nonetheless, I am the first to give the yay or nay, so I'll take it.

Regardless of how the future pans out as far as significant others are concerned, I know my brothers always have my best interest in mind. Even if that means joining a convent.


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As always, "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."-AB