Ray loved Halloween; it was one of his favorite holidays. We would decorate our house (trail of terror) with a graveyard and bones and he would be the sound effects director. He bought a CD of spooky sounds and would blast it in our window of his office on the second floor. He would also take the day off to trick or treat with our nieces and nephew.

So, when two of our nieces were about 5 or 6, they went around our neighborhood to trick or treat. One of our neighbors was dressed as Jason, complete with a chainsaw! He was chained to the garage and scaring the kids, including our niece, Toria. She didn’t want to trick or treat after that. Ray tried to explain that it was fake and would never hurt her but she wasn’t convinced.

He would always find something to add to our Halloween decor and this time, he found a giant spider. It had moving legs and lit up. He called Toria to come over and set it up in our living room. She came up and saw it, moving with the lights, and fell in love. Ray asked her what she thought of him and she said, “his name is Spot.” So, Spot the Spider became our focal point of our decorations. She went out trick or treating and I’m proud to say that she is a regular performer at our local haunted walkthrough. She loves it!

We lost him in 2020 and the next year, I took off Halloween to continue the tradition in his honor. I put up the decorations and Toria asked me “Where’s Spot? We need him.” I smiled and told her he was in the attic in a bag. She went up, took him out, fixed his legs and once again, Spot ruled our display. He does not work the way he used to but he is a treasured part of Halloween and a connection to Ray. When I see Spot, I see my husband again. At least, it feels like he is still here with us, even for a day.