Okay, I know I've been lax in keepin up my blog. I started a post on Easter Sunday, but never got it finished. To try to get caught up, I'll post that Easter Sunday post and then go forward from there. Here it is:
Easter. What can I say about it? I have memories of Easter as a child that are precious to me, especially since my mom has died. I remember getting a new dress, new shoes, and a new hat to get all dressed up to go to church in. As I recall, these typically came from JC Penney. Usually we would all get up very early on Easter morning, go out to the kitchen, and find our Easter baskets filled with candy along with a big basket in the center of the table which was also filled with candy and a big chocolate bunny. We would each have a hard-boiled dyed Easter egg at our place at the table. The egg usually had our name on it and was always placed in a blue willow egg cup. My mom collected blue willow dishes, so blue willow was all over our house! For a long time there were 6 of us kids, so there would be 6 Easter baskets at the table along with 8 hard-boiled Easter eggs. There was always LOTS of candy and eggs to go around!
The way I remember it, although it may not be accurate, is that my parents would let us eat as much candy as we wanted before we had to get ready for church. Then when it was time, we'd all have to be cajoled to tear ourselves away from our Easter baskets to get ready. After we were all dressed and ready to go, and my mom had put a ham in the oven to bake for Easter dinner, we'd pile into the station wagon and head to church. After church my dad would take a photo or maybe an 8 mm movie of us outside all dressed up in our Easter best. Later we'd eat a huge Easter dinner, sometimes at the dining room table, and sometimes at the kitchen table. And that was our Easter. I know it doesn't sound like alot, but those memories are precious to me. Not because we got lots and lots of candy, or because we got new outfits, but rather because we were a FAMILY. A family that celebrated together, that loved together, that most likely fought together, and that built memories together.
I know that there are many other reasons to be happy about celebrating Easter. The big one being the Jesus rose from the dead and gave us all new life in doing so. And I know that the fact that God did that for us is incredible. But this Easter is different for me. It’s a little melancholy for me, as I did not spend it with DH and the girls. That is even more true, since this is Grace’s first Easter. I’m at my father’s house with my brother because my dad had surgery last week and needed someone to take care of him. He was in so much pain though, that he thought it wouldn’t be good for the children to see him. He thought that seeing him that way would scare them. So he asked that the children not come. So my Easter this year was sleeping in, talking with my dad and brother, and eating hash for lunch. The day was pretty quiet. No Easter candy, no Easter egg hunt, no Sunday morning church dressed in our new spring clothes. But even with that there were some good things about this Easter. My dad felt a lot better. So much so that he went out with my brother in the car for the first time since his surgery. He was joking and laughing, and I think enjoying the day with his children. My brother and sister-in-law were over, and my sister was there too. So it was a good day for him.
As for DH and the girls, they did have the Easter baskets at their place at our kitchen table, they didn’t go to church, but they did have an Easter egg hunt at DH’s parents. I missed being with them, and I especially missed not being home with Gracie on her first Easter with us. But she won’t know the difference. I have a few photos that DD2 took of their day.
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