plumtreeblossom: (wildflowers)
plumtreeblossom ([personal profile] plumtreeblossom) wrote2008-03-23 02:24 pm

Easter

It doesn't feel like Easter.

As a child, Easter was a Very Major Holiday in my house. Whether or not we went to church (which was usually not), Easter was like a spring-themed Christmas. My brother and I would come flying down the stairs at the crack of dawn, and there would be giant Easter baskets for us brimming with candy and gifts. We would have an indoor egg hunt all over the downstairs, and we got wrapped presents, too. We always had ham for dinner, and my grandmother's pastel-frosted cupcakes with little coconut nests of jelly bean eggs.

I liked when the egg dye seeped through the shell and made swirly stains on the egg white. The shells smelled like the vinegar in the dye. We would sometimes dye 6 or 7 dozen eggs. I don't know how a family of 5 ate that many eggs.

Easter was the only day of the year that I ate white chocolate. To this day, I immediate think of Easter on the rare occasions that I eat white chocolate. One year when I was very little I brought the head of a white chocolate bunny to church in a wee little purse. I didn't open the purse again until the following Easter, and when I did, part of the gnawed head was still in there.

As an adult, I've never really celebrated Easter. I'm not religious, but seasonal festivals appeal to me, almost as a natural need of the human soul. Maybe next year I'll make Easter dinner for friends.

[identity profile] weegoddess.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
PTB, I share your pain. I was raised very Catholic and I now miss attending the Vigil. It was my favourite mass of the entire year. I also miss the Mass at Midnight. I realised years later that I was naturally Pagan inside; the elements in those masses that spoke to me are also Key in Pagan Ritual. But then, I also married a nice Jewish boy who has never celebrated Easter, never participated in dying eggs or hunting them. It boggles the mind.

Next year, I think I'm going to do something Easter-y. Just for me, if necessary. If for no other reason than to celebrate the tradition and the ritual that I once held so dear.

[personal profile] ron_newman 2008-03-23 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I hope the Jewish boy introduced you to Purim and Passover, though.