Letters to the President #1381: 'A Halloween wish'

Reporter's Note: President Obama and Mitt Romney continue campaigning.

Dear Mr. President,

Happy Halloween! Despite all the difficulties and serious issues facing our nation, particularly in the Northeast, I hope your family has a few moments to mark the holiday. I realize that sometimes little fun things...like Halloween...can seem silly against a backdrop of genuine troubles. And yet I believe simple joys have an important place in such circumstances.

I've seen the value first hand.

Sometimes a little spark of joy comes from a rescue worker who smiles and makes a soft joke with someone who has shed too many tears. Sometimes hope rises from a survivor who pulls a ridiculous hat from the rubble of a home and cracks wise about how "at least we still have this!" Sometimes it is something else...an accidental scrap of celebration over something which, routinely, might not be much noticed...an unscathed photograph, an intact tea pot, or a playful holiday observed in some tiny way.

For all those reasons, I hope our friends in the path left by Sandy find at least a little way to celebrate Halloween...if only as a reminder that the horrors will pass, and better days will follow.

Regards,
Tom