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Juliet and Brian Jegasothy were newlyweds when they immigrated to the United States.

They came from Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka, and, as Juliet remembered, getting used to American traditions could be a little scary.

Transcription:

We came to America in 1969. We were newly married and came to Brooklyn, New York. And I was so terrified to even open the door, because I had heard all those horror stories about criminals and gangsters and guns in New York.

So, there was one afternoon when Brian was working at night and I was alone with the baby. And the doorbell started ringing. And then I went and looked through the peephole, and it was like there was a really scary person standing outside, so I didn’t open the door. I told my baby to be quiet and then the doorbell rings again and I look through the peephole again and I’m so scared!

And the third time it rang, there was more than one person and they all looked really scary and were yelling at me through the door. So, I called Brian on the phone and said, “Something is happening, there are some criminals or someone trying to scare me at the door.”

He said, “Don’t open the door, don’t do anything, don’t make any noise, shut up.”

So I stayed in the bedroom and this continued for almost an hour.

You know, all the years I was growing up, I think I was the weakest person. I used to cry about everything. So, at this point, I’m sweating and almost dying. And then Brian calls around nine and says, “I think there’s something called Halloween going on today and that’s been going on and people are supposed to come and ring the doorbell.”

So that was an experience I will never forget. And it turns out that my daughter loves Halloween.