Shantell Powell<p>The first time I ever got to go trick or treating was when I was 21 years old. My roommate Viki went as a vampire and I went as her victim in a long white nightgown and a bloody neck. The only place we went to, the woman said, "Aren't you too old for this?" It crushed all my joy. I didn't get to go as a kid because I grew up in a Jehovah's Witness family. </p><p>In downtown Fredericton there's an old cemetery that everyone uses as a shortcut. That Halloween night, the gates were open, so Viki and I walked in. We passed a watchman who said hi. But when we got to the other side, the gate was locked. </p><p>We turned around to exit the way we came in, only to find that gate was locked, too. The watchman had shut us in!</p><p>We wandered around looking for a way out, and then city workers saw us and started yelling at us for breaking into the cemetery. We explained what had happened and asked for them to let us out. They didn't have keys. So they pulled their truck up to the cast iron fence and helped pull us over the fence. </p><p>Who else gets locked into an old cemetery on their first Hallowe'en? My nightgown got ripped, but it was totally worth it. It brought back all the joy that had been sucked away by the mean woman telling me I was too old for trick or treating. </p><p>FWIW, the last time I went trick or treating was when I was in my forties. If mummering were a thing here, I'd do that, too. <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/halloween" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>halloween</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/TrickorTreat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TrickorTreat</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ageism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ageism</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/mummers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mummers</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/cemetery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cemetery</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ExJW" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ExJW</span></a></p>