Halloween

In Gordon Holcombe’s account, Halloween is the occasion on which his involvement with Erin Bushnell began. Erin came to his house to trick-or-treat dressed as Titania, then later that night called him her Oberon, giving their encounter the shape of a theatrical pairing drawn from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Occasion in Gordon’s Account

Gordon identifies Halloween as the point when he first became involved with Erin. His recollection places the beginning at his house, during her trick-or-treat visit, and distinguishes the later exchange that same night: Erin called him her Oberon. The evening thus anchors his account of their relationship to a specific occasion and sequence.

A Theatrical Pairing

Erin’s costume and her later name for Gordon cast the encounter in the roles of Titania and Oberon. The detail gives Gordon’s recollection a theatrical frame, but the account supplies no further explanation of what Erin meant by the comparison or how the relationship developed afterward. Halloween matters here not as a recurring ritual, but as the setting Gordon names for the beginning of his involvement with her.