Remembering Childhood Easters

When I was a child, Easters were much different than they are now.  Time has commercialized the holidays, and this one is no different.  There is some sadness because children today, aren't taught what Easter is really all about.

As I child, I was brought up not only in a religious household, but a dual one...my dad was Catholic and my mom was Protestant.  I learned both religions, as well as learned their differences.  But that is of little importance to the memories I have of those childhood Easters.


Easter was celebrated knowing it was when Jesus was resurrected, but also we knew that the Easter Bunny came too...bringing sweet treats in baskets overflowing with green plastic (or paper) grass.


It was a time to color eggs, and decorate them with stickers and whatnot.  

As well, it was a time for getting a new Easter outfit, which for us girls, would include not only a dress, but a hat and even gloves, so that when we went to church, we were dressed all nice and pretty.  

It was a time for family gatherings, where my aunts and uncles that lived out of town would come and we'd have a big dinner together.


It also meant that we, as the extended family, would go visit my grandmother where she was...in a psychiatric institution.  She'd been there most of her adult life.  And though she was aging, she did not know that my uncles and mom were her children...mentally, she lived in a time in her past childhood...her marriage and her children were lost to her.


These are times that I remember with much sadness but also much joy as there is nothing to compare those times with.  They were simpler times, times when families were close even though geographically far away.  


As time has passed, so too has those things that those of us who are older once cherished.  However, we do have our memories and can pass them on to those who will listen.