Parenting & Family Quote by Robert Brault

Brault takes a holiday vignette and smuggles in a theory of adult longing. The “child in every one of us” setup could be syrupy in lesser hands, but he sharpens it with the exact, sensory target: not candy, not costumes, but “a brightly-lit front porch.” That porch is a symbol with real social voltage. It’s permission. It’s safety. It’s the quiet thrill of being expected rather than merely tolerated.

The trick-or-treater isn’t just cute nostalgia; it’s a portrait of risk. Halloween is the one night kids are encouraged to knock on strangers’ doors and ask for something, trusting the world to respond kindly. Brault’s subtext is that adults never outgrow that gamble. We still audition for welcome: in friendships, workplaces, romances, families. We still approach doors, literal or metaphorical, hoping the light is on and the person inside won’t pretend they’re not home.

“Brightly-lit” matters. It implies intention, not accident. A lit porch is an active signal: I’m here, I’m open, I’m part of this neighborhood. In a culture where so much of modern life is dimmed by privacy, anxiety, and atomized routines, the image reads like a critique of closed doors and curated distance. Brault’s intent is gently prescriptive: be the porch. Leave a light on, make the welcome legible, because someone’s inner kid is walking up your steps rehearsing the courage to ask.