Memories of Easter

I woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, homemade blueberry pancakes, and my mother singing, "Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning. It's time to rise and shine." What a good morning it was. I jumped out of bed and dashed through my bedroom doorway to find a colorful trail of M & M's leading my sister and me throughout our 1,100 sq. feet house, to our traditional, 1980's plastic Easter baskets.

Step back with me and remember the baskets filled with classic 80's candy, such as Charleston Chews, Pop Rocks, and the iconic Peeps. My personal favorite was the Cadbury Crème Egg. It's not that I like to eat them now but more so that I remember enjoying them as a kid. Mmm -- the smooth chocolate, white crème filled egg, with a little yellow inside the middle to make it look like a real egg.

My mom not only gave us candy in our baskets but also practical items. Every Easter, year after year, I could expect to receive a pair of brightly colored flip-flops, a cute bathing suit, and a summer outfit. At this point, my sister and I were ecstatic. Let me share with you a little of my life'˜s history. This will shed some light on why we were so ecstatic over our baskets.

Throughout my childhood, we were not well off financially. However, that was irrelevant to me because I had the mother with the most. She made us think we lived in luxury. One memory, etched in my mind forever is the day I told my aunt I felt sorry for her, because she had a car. You see, we did not have a car. We walked and took the public bus everywhere we went, no matter how far. My mom would make our walks so much fun by showing us every strange colored home, all of the beautiful flowers in people's yards. Best of all she told us how blessed we were because we saw the beautiful world while we walked; cars were boring and the people driving them missed all of the fun.

Easter was and still is a special holiday in our family. Although we may have a different social status because of increased incomes, my mom continues to fill Easter baskets for my kids, in the same way she filled mine. She still makes the small things great fun. I have passed some of that down to my children too. Every Easter they can expect candy, sandals, a swimsuit and the notion that everything has value.