Easter
With Easter coming soon, I am reminded of Easters when I was a child. On the Saturday before Easter, all of us would take off for the woods to bring home some hemlock boughs. We would then use these boughs to make nests on the floor, preferably in the corners, where the Easter rabbit could leave our goodies. We took great pains in making these nests, and each of us had his own. The children have replaced these with Easter baskets today.
On Easter morning, after we were "switched" out of bed with pussy willows, we ran downstairs to check the contents of our nests. We'd usually find a chocolate marshmallow bunny, some jelly beans, and some larger candy eggs. We'd eat very few of these, but saved them and played with them for many days.
One Easter, Ruth, our oldest sister, had fun with us. She had dyed some chicken eggs and hid them in the haybarn. She had also made some muddy paw prints with her fingers, to look like rabbit tracks. She put these on a paper where she had written, "Thirty eggs of many colors, in the haybarn they are hid. Try and find them if you can." To make it seem more authentic, she had gathered up a few rabbit "turds" and placed them by the paper. Of course we swallowed all of this, hook, line, and sinker, really and truly believing that the Easter rabbit was responsible. We had fun looking for the colored eggs in the haybarn, and found them all.
One Easter, the Easter rabbit brought a new baby to our house. My youngest sister, Middy, was born on Easter morning. Easter was on the 20th of April that year, and several times since, her birthday and Easter have fallen on the same day. Her oldest grandchild, Peter, was born on her birthday. This was a coincidence which has made Peter a very special grandchild to her.
After all our Easter morning surprises, it was time to get ready for church, which we attended regularly. This made Easter for us the special day that it was meant to be.