A Blessed Easter Weekend
Most people have heard the story of the dogwood blossom and how it represents the crucifixion of Christ. But have you ever truly looked at one and just taken in the beauty of it? Since I was a kid, Easter has been one of my favorite times of the year.
Growing up, Easter was one of the times I looked forward to because it brought two of my favorite things: Mawmaw's turkey and dressing and getting to see all of my cousins at once. Mawmaw's house just smelled wonderful from the moment you got out of your car. She'd been in the kitchen for hours already, either cooking or directing traffic as others did the leg work for her. I can see her sitting there on a stool in one of the aprons all the little girls liked to wear when we played, and she was always smiling. Even early on Easter morning the house was buzzing. Kids were running in and out, Daddy and whichever of his brothers were already there were shooting the breeze and cutting up onions and celery, Aunt Ruby was making biscuits, Mama and the aunts were cleaning up or taking things in and out of the oven, and Baby Jim, Gibo, and Larry were in the living room. Gradually the house would fill with first cousins, second cousins, third cousins, and people who were not related by blood but were family anyway. The feast would fill the dining room table to the point that there was only a narrow fringe around the edge for plates to rest on. People ate in the living room, the kitchen, the front porch, and some of us kids would grab our plates and head for the top of the big rock in the back yard. After the meal and dessert (mmmmm...strawberry cake), the kids had to come inside while the adults hid eggs. It wasn't unusual for around 15 or more kids to have 300 eggs to find. Our deaf "uncle" Jim wasn't allowed to hide the hen eggs because he just threw them and busted them! Instead, he got the marshmallow eggs to hide. You remember those...the long, skinny ones that didn't really taste all that good? Afterward one of us kids would make off with the salt shaker from the house and we'd sit on the rock and eat hard boiled eggs. We'd run around in the woods and play in the dirt and play hide and seek, and as long as we came when we were called, no one worried about where we were. Those were the good old days.
As I said, this weekend was wonderful. On Friday I took the boys and four of their buddies to the local amusement park to play for the afternoon. They were some of the wildest mini-golfers I have ever seen! They had a blast! Saturday was extra-special as it was my little one's 8th birthday. We started with breakfast at Waffle House and then celebrated in grand fashion with a King Kong birthday cake and Mama's house full of relatives. The weather was pretty and the kids ran hog-wild in the yard for the afternoon. Even a rather large snake came out to take part in the events, and like a good Cub Scout leader, I called my husband to take care of it!
Easter Sunday was the most beautiful day of the whole weekend. While Barry read the story of the Resurrection to the boys, I helped Mama with dinner. She made all the good stuff including dressing and a beautiful strawberry cake with homemade buttercream frosting. Granny, Papa, and "Uncle" Walt arrived and dinner was served! Afterward, the kids colored eggs. Then we all retired to the yard, where the boys hunted the eggs hidden by Barry and myself. Barry and the boys played catch, Granny and Papa sat in the shade, and Mama, Walt, Daniel and I played croquet. Mama and Walt hadn't played in a very long time and Daniel and I were clueless, but we figured it was just golf with a hammer! Walt ended up being too good at it, so next time we might make him play with his eyes shut or something! Mama and I brought the card table out in the yard and served cake and iced tea in the shade. Everyone laughed and talked and played, and no one was in a hurry to go home. The weather was absolutely perfect (breezy and mild) and the back yard was a cool, shady, green oasis. It was the kind of Easter Sunday I hope the kids can look back on in the way I recall the ones when I was a kid.
Growing up, Easter was one of the times I looked forward to because it brought two of my favorite things: Mawmaw's turkey and dressing and getting to see all of my cousins at once. Mawmaw's house just smelled wonderful from the moment you got out of your car. She'd been in the kitchen for hours already, either cooking or directing traffic as others did the leg work for her. I can see her sitting there on a stool in one of the aprons all the little girls liked to wear when we played, and she was always smiling. Even early on Easter morning the house was buzzing. Kids were running in and out, Daddy and whichever of his brothers were already there were shooting the breeze and cutting up onions and celery, Aunt Ruby was making biscuits, Mama and the aunts were cleaning up or taking things in and out of the oven, and Baby Jim, Gibo, and Larry were in the living room. Gradually the house would fill with first cousins, second cousins, third cousins, and people who were not related by blood but were family anyway. The feast would fill the dining room table to the point that there was only a narrow fringe around the edge for plates to rest on. People ate in the living room, the kitchen, the front porch, and some of us kids would grab our plates and head for the top of the big rock in the back yard. After the meal and dessert (mmmmm...strawberry cake), the kids had to come inside while the adults hid eggs. It wasn't unusual for around 15 or more kids to have 300 eggs to find. Our deaf "uncle" Jim wasn't allowed to hide the hen eggs because he just threw them and busted them! Instead, he got the marshmallow eggs to hide. You remember those...the long, skinny ones that didn't really taste all that good? Afterward one of us kids would make off with the salt shaker from the house and we'd sit on the rock and eat hard boiled eggs. We'd run around in the woods and play in the dirt and play hide and seek, and as long as we came when we were called, no one worried about where we were. Those were the good old days.
As I said, this weekend was wonderful. On Friday I took the boys and four of their buddies to the local amusement park to play for the afternoon. They were some of the wildest mini-golfers I have ever seen! They had a blast! Saturday was extra-special as it was my little one's 8th birthday. We started with breakfast at Waffle House and then celebrated in grand fashion with a King Kong birthday cake and Mama's house full of relatives. The weather was pretty and the kids ran hog-wild in the yard for the afternoon. Even a rather large snake came out to take part in the events, and like a good Cub Scout leader, I called my husband to take care of it!
Easter Sunday was the most beautiful day of the whole weekend. While Barry read the story of the Resurrection to the boys, I helped Mama with dinner. She made all the good stuff including dressing and a beautiful strawberry cake with homemade buttercream frosting. Granny, Papa, and "Uncle" Walt arrived and dinner was served! Afterward, the kids colored eggs. Then we all retired to the yard, where the boys hunted the eggs hidden by Barry and myself. Barry and the boys played catch, Granny and Papa sat in the shade, and Mama, Walt, Daniel and I played croquet. Mama and Walt hadn't played in a very long time and Daniel and I were clueless, but we figured it was just golf with a hammer! Walt ended up being too good at it, so next time we might make him play with his eyes shut or something! Mama and I brought the card table out in the yard and served cake and iced tea in the shade. Everyone laughed and talked and played, and no one was in a hurry to go home. The weather was absolutely perfect (breezy and mild) and the back yard was a cool, shady, green oasis. It was the kind of Easter Sunday I hope the kids can look back on in the way I recall the ones when I was a kid.
posted by Jennifer at 10:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home