Join Mike and Friends on this Halloween Night for "The Thin Veil!" with Warriors for Life (WFL)

Join our Volunteer, Army Combat Medic Veteran, & Music Writer/Producer Mike Williams TONIGHT for "Mike Check" edition of Warriors for Life (WFL) Online, sponsored and presented by Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV).

We are asking everyone to share who we are and what support that Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV) is providing via WFL. If you know someone who is a veteran, first responder or a family member/caregiver, please ask them to join us for at least one meeting so they can learn more about what we do and how they can share their wisdom with others who may be able to learn from them.

TONIGHT's Topic: "The Thin Veil!"

Join Mike and Friends on this Halloween NIGHT for a discussion about "The Thin Veil!" TONIGHT's focus: Hold space for our fallen and absent; simple ritual, optional sharing, one concrete kindness to keep their memory moving.

"If the veil is thin, let love cross it."

Historically, these nights were never only about fright. They were about continuity—between seasons, generations, and the living and the dead. Whether you speak of saints, ancestors, or simply the beloved who shaped your life, Hallows Eve invites a brave tenderness: to admit that endings are real, that love is realer still, and that remembering is one of the ways love keeps crossing whatever veil there is.

The Thinning of the Veil: A Compassionate History for Hallows Eve

Across many cultures, late autumn has long been felt as a hinge in the year—fields gone quiet, daylight folding early, breath clouding the air. The old Celts marked this hinge as Samhain (pronounced SAH-win), the turn from harvest to winter. They kindled hilltop bonfires, carried home protective embers, and honored ancestors. Food was set aside for wandering souls; doors were left unlatched for kin. Masks and mumming likely served both as play and protection—meeting the unknown with humor and humility.

As Christianity spread through Celtic lands, All Hallows’ Eve (the night before All Saints’ Day, followed by All Souls’ Day) layered new meaning onto old customs. People prayed for the departed, rang bells for the dead, baked soul cakes, and lit candles in windows to guide loved ones “home.” In Ireland and Scotland, turnips were carved into lanterns; in America, pumpkins took their place. The mood was not merely spooky—it was communal, reverent, and tender.

Farther south, a different but resonant tradition took shape. Día de los Muertos blends Indigenous Mesoamerican remembrance with Catholic feasts. Families build ofrendas (altars) with photos, the favorite foods of the departed, and cempasúchil (marigolds), whose scent and color are said to guide souls back. The message is joyful and clear: love continues, and memory is an active verb.

The popular phrase “the veil is thin” is modern shorthand for an old intuition: in liminal times—dusk and dawn, change of seasons, thresholds between harvest and winter—the boundary between the seen and unseen feels more permeable. Folklore frames that threshold with story; ritual gives us a way to stand in it without fear.

All Hallows' Eve a compassionate practice:

Set a place at the table, or leave a small plate by a candle. Name who you’re welcoming.

Tell a story you haven’t told in years—one that reveals character, not just biography.

Offer the senses something to remember: a favorite recipe, a spritz of their cologne, a song they loved.

Write a letter to the departed. Read it aloud. Save it, burn it, or place it on an altar.

Light safely, sit quietly. Let silence be part of the remembrance; it’s a language of its own.

Do a kindness in their name—an act of service that keeps their love in motion.

Easy Ways to Honor a Loved One's Memory

"Love transcends the Veil"

TONIGHT Mike Williams shares his Music

"On Hallow's Eve"

Long shadows stitch the streets to night,

The air turns cool and candle-bright;

Day pulls quilts up over its head—

Evening tucks the light to bed.

The last leaves whisper dry and low,

Old gates creak soft, as if they know;

Moonlight listens, still and pale,

Where breath grows thin—so does the veil.

Footsteps pause; the clocks hold breath,

Windows fog with hints of death—

Not fear, but hush, a sacred slow,

Where memories find room to glow.

From just-beyond, a lantern gleams,

A seam opens between our dreams;

They gather at the garden’s bend,

The ones we lost, the ones we mend.

No rattling chains, no bitter chill—

Only love that lingers still;

A hand felt lightly on the sleeve,

A name that drifts and will not leave.

“Hello,” they murmur, warm and near,

In syllables we almost hear—

A promise carried leaf by leaf:

Love outlives the longest grief.

Stand a while and do not flee;

Let silence be your company.

Tonight the dark is not a thief—

It’s simply time, and time is brief.

And when the stars exhale their light,

Walk home gentle through the night;

For those who came to say hello

Will walk beside you as you go.

Warriors for Life (WFL) Online "Mike Check" edition presented by Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV) — Friday (TONIGHT), October 31, 2025, @ 4:30 PM PT, 5:30 PM MT, 6:30 PM CT, & 7:30 PM ET

Join Zoom Meeting:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83145057228

Thank you,

Mike Williams,

Army Combat Medic Veteran, Music Writer/Producer, & Volunteer Facilitator, Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV)

"Honor & Respect Always — Warriors for Life!"