‘Great Pumpkin’ a sentimental tradition

"Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker." This sage advice comes from one of the most intelligent elementary school kids of all time. I am, of course, speaking of Linus Van Pelt.

He says it in the classic "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" a TV special I always watch around this time. If you can't tell from my picture, I am somewhat of a Charlie Brown fan. Although I am not a fan of Halloween, I do have this tradition because I find this TV special to be incredibly funny and wise.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this classic, the special focuses on the Peanuts gang gearing up for Halloween. Their plan is to go trick-or-treating and then head to Violet's party.

Meanwhile, Linus convinces Sally to wait with him in "the most sincere pumpkin patch in the world" and wait for the Great Pumpkin to appear. Linus believes the Great Pumpkin to be a Halloween version of Santa Claus. According to Linus, the Great Pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch and visits the most sincere pumpkin patches and gives toys to the children. Everyone calls him crazy, including his bossy older sister Lucy.

What I find so compelling about Linus is that although everyone made fun of him and told him he was crazy and wasting his time on a crazy idea, he remained true to his beliefs—even at the end when the Great Pumpkin doesn't show and Sally yells at him for wasting her Halloween. He went against the grain, and that's something everyone can relate to.

How many times have you had an impulse and acted on it and then were criticized by your peers? Or how about when you had that impulse but didn't act on it because you were scared about how others would react? I think we all have something to learn from Linus Van Pelt.

Lucy Van Pelt is another character from this series that always makes me smile. For the majority of the special, she is bossy, controlling and just down right mean. However, she went out to the pumpkin patch at 4 a.m. to get Linus, brought him inside, took of his shoes and put him to bed. Even though she thinks he is a blockhead, she is still Linus's older sister and still needs to take care of him. Since I grew up with an older sister who was a lot like Lucy, that makes this moment of the show a lot more endearing.

I have never personally enjoyed Halloween all that much. I never liked trick-or-treating or dressing up as a child. I understand that this makes no sense. I have been trying to figure it out for years, and I'm sure there is a psychological answer to it all. However, there are plenty of people of all ages who live for Halloween, and to them I say happy Halloween, be safe and keep an eye out for the Great Pumpkin.