Easter

I find Easter to be a curious holiday. Unlike Christmas, the religious and secular sides of the holiday don't seem to connect at all. As a child, I actually believed the Easter Bunny hid the eggs for us as we slept. In my teenage years, I was allowed to help the egg hiding effort. It's a wonder none of us ever got sick since we hid the eggs while the younger slept and they stayed there all night. Since Oregon weather usually includes rain, the egg hunts were done inside our living room. We had our traditional potato salad made with brightly colored eggs (after 8 hours at room temperature). My biggest Easter memories while growing up involve the chocolate we got in the Easter baskets - baskets of goodies were also hidden around the room. Kathy and I would sort the chocolate into different baskets and then pretend our dolls were shopkeepers selling the candy from their basket storefronts.

When I married Emerson, I was surprised to see that his entire family, regardless of age, participated in the Easter egg hunt. His grandma has been known to outhunt the children! There are no excuses in his family for skipping the egg hunt or the potato salad using those eggs. I found myself pondering this as I prepared for today. The boys are older and don't participate much. I wasn't really in the mood for coloring eggs and hiding them. Eugene, Emerson's brother, reminded me of the importance of keeping the tradition going. I found myself having a lot of fun coloring the eggs (I bought a camoflauge style dye kit) and hid the eggs in the living room instead of the back yard. The toughest part was waiting for Dwayne to get home from work so I could have the boys search for the eggs. I think the boys enjoyed the hunt and I know we all enjoyed the potato salad. I didn't feel guilty at all about having some despite my desire to lose weight.