This year was going to be a special year. Halloween is my favorite time of year. It's my favorite holiday. Being an occultist and a horror movie fan, you tend to enjoy the freakish nature of the holiday. More than that though, Halloween is in the Fall (or Autumn if you will), which is my favorite season. There's something about the Fall that's special - a preparedness, a fun-loving, adventurous time as the days get shorter and the nights longer. Christmas and a brand new year are around the corner, but there's still plenty of time to jump into leaf piles, hike around the Fall foliage or investigate your favorite haunt.

This year I finally owned my own home... in Virginia, the place I've been trying to move to for quite some time now. A new home. A new life with my soon-to-be wife, and our first Halloween together.

Unfortunately, health issues on my fiance's family's side derailed that plan. I had to travel up to New Jersey a week before Halloween, and here I am just now returning. I missed the Charlottesville zombie pub crawl. I missed the Massanutten costume party. I missed the decorations and the trick-or-treaters. I even missed the all-night horror movie fest that I had planned.

Sometimes things don't go quite as you think they will.

Regardless, I did stumble upon something. I missed being home. I've only lived here for a few short weeks, and even then I travel back to New Jersey for a contract that I'm currently on, but I legitimately missed being here. I missed my home. I missed my town. I missed all the little quirks of this new neighborhood. Strange. I didn't think I was accustomed to that much already.

It may have sucked missing my favorite time of year, but that little excursion made me realize that finally, finally, I am home.