April 13th, 2020

Well Happy Easter Yesterday, I suppose.

Didn't really feel very Easter-ish.  At least it didn't to me.  But then it kind of hasn't for a long time.  I'm not sure this is something I can blame totally on the Time of the Great Quarantine.

When I was a little girl Easter was an event.  A Really Big Deal!

My sister and I had new dresses, usually that our Nana made and she was an amazing seamstress.  Do you remember those kind of dresses that had crinolines underneath?  Yeah that kind.  The crinoline, or petticoat, was stuff and itchy, but it made the skirt big and apparently that was a goal.  We had fancy white socks with lace trim and our black patent leather shoes received a special Vaseline induced shine.  We wore little gloves and straw hats that went with our new dresses and on Easter Sunday, we might even have gone to church depending on where we lived at the time.

We each got an impressive Easter Basket that involved far too much candy and at least one new stuffed animal.  We dyed Easter eggs with the aid of that kit by Paz  (even now I remember the smell of it) and held our own egg hunts taking turns hiding and finding the eggs over and over again.  Sometimes the dogs found the eggs first, sometimes we kids did.

Again depending on where we lived at the time, we might get together with other neighborhood families for a meal so there was loads of food, lots of noise and activity.  We kids sang the Peter Cottontail song so many times I'm quite certain our parents were ready to throttle us.

It was a special day with lots of food, lots of conversation, lots of fun and of course, our fancy new duds that then became our fancy dressup outfits for the entire next year (or until we outgrew it whichever came first)

When the boys were small we got together with family usually so it was still a good sized collection of people and food. And like when I was a kid, we coloured eggs and  had Easter egg hunts, seeking and finding over and again. 

I delighted in making Easter baskets for my own kids when they were little, choosing everything that went into the basket with great consideration.  My sister actually  made Easter baskets for her kids. I mean the actual baskets, the basket that holds the goodies!  Wow!  My poor kids were stuck with a non-crafty mom who store bought plastic baskets.

Then the kids got older and less interested in the trappings. Oh they wouldn't turn down a good Easter Dinner.  Of course not!  They aren't stupid after all.  And if some of their favourite Easter candy happened to find it's way into their bedrooms they would be appreciative.  But there was no fancy basket, no stuffed animals, none of the excitement and magic that little ones bring to every holiday.  And that's fine. It's normal. 

Then they were gone. Off on their own with their own homes and lives and it was just Tim and I trying to figure out how to celebrate holidays far from family.  At that point the only Eastery thing that happened in our house was the candy I still managed to rationalize into our house.  I mean neither of us actually NEED Easter candy.  But somehow I always managed to justify it's purchase.  But we didn't colour eggs.  No easter egg hunts, no crinolines or shiny patent leather shoes.  No crowds of people around the table all talking at the same time.  It was just us.  And that's fine too.  We enjoy each other's company ;)

But if it wasn't for the Easter candy (which we probably didn't wait for Easter to eat anyway) Easter Sunday just felt like any Sunday.   Unless we got out of the house and saw the massive crowds attending Mass at Ephiphany Cathedral (right down the street from us) or the hordes of people celebrating the holiday on the beaches or the pastel stuffed animals and Easter Lilies lining the shelves in all of the stores.  That's really the only way we felt the Special Easter-ness of the day.  In fact, if we didn't go the the store at all, the only thing that would indicate Easter would be the Cadbury Commercials on TV.

And then there was this Easter where the Cathedral is Streaming Easter Services instead of in the actual building, the beaches are closed and, well, yes I think there were still stuffed animals and Easter Lillies on the store shelves but not as many people buying them.  So it felt less Easter-ish than ever.  

And that, perhaps, is why for Easter Dinner this year I made corned beef.  I left it until too late to decide what to serve and ended up just looking in our freezer to see what was there and one of the things there was corned beef.  What?  That's not traditional at all!  Well it is a traditional St Patrick's day meal so it is A tradition, but not the Easter Tradition.  I rationalized that at least it referenced a holiday and a fairly recent one at that so it was close enough.

Hope your Easter was a good one even if it was a little different than usual this year.