Easter Memories

Easter seemed easy when the children were younger. Easter eggs, bunnies and ham had their place, and so did Handel, liturgy and the two hour long Easter Vigil. Now it is harder to put the two in their right  perspective.

A few memories stand out. I always made the two older girls similar new outfits: in the photo above are skirts and vests, lavender for Liz, cream skirt and cream and blue patterned vest for Kate. My absolute favorites were dresses made of fine cotton—pale blue for Elizabeth, apricot for Kate, with the same pattern but different designs. I can't find photos of the boys in Easter finery, but I will keep looking around. Nor did I find photos of them grasping bunnies, a gift from a neighbor. I did hear the story not too long ago from Andrew about the sad fate of his bunny one year. Andrew was upset with the neighbor for some reason and he therefore hanged his bunny on the lilac tree in full view of her kitchen windows.

The middle photo shows Lucy with her bunny. She must have changed after church and, poor kid, she had probably worn her usual costume, hand-me-downs from her older sisters.

The bottom photo, with its 1970's avocado color scheme, shows that year's version of the lamb cake which I made every year. I still have the metal mold which has two halves bound together with wire, but it has been a long time since I attempted the cake.

It was a lovely day. A big ham breakfast with our three married daughters and their husbands and a phone call from Washington where the boys celebrated together. We spent the rest of the day eating and drinking and all but one of the nine grandchildren were able to run round to the neighborhood school by themselves to play in the playground. Yes, the details of being together have changed, but not the comfort of our celebration.