A Special Easter

A Special Easter

Raindrops, a yellow tulip, a white carnation, and a brand-new navy-blue blazer.

I was eleven years old on that Easter Sunday – all those years ago – and I remember it so well.

My mom had died the autumn previous, and I felt alone in the world – although I shouldn’t have. My grandparents, as distraught as they were, became, in many ways, my parents.

Looking back, I can now see that my grandparents were traditionalists. They had deeply entrenched traditional values and they practiced them and held them in high regard.

But back then I didn’t label them anything – they were my grandparents – they together were the lighthouse that guided me through a dark and stormy time in my life.

Because my grandparents considered traditions important, Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday were special occasions. And so, they were special to me also… when I was a child. 

I can remember going to church on Palm Sunday and each person upon entering the church was given a palm frond. And if I close my eyes, I can smell the Easter Lilies that lined the entryway and the altar.  I can see the churchgoers waving their palm fronds. I can hear the congregation and the choir singing “The Old Rugged Cross”.  And… I can remember singing along.

It seems like yesterday and it seems like it was another lifetime.

To my grandparents, especially my grandmother, Palm Sunday was nearly as important as Easter Sunday. My Grandma often regaled me with the Biblical story of Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey. He entered Jerusalem in celebration. But all during that joyous day of celebrating, hate and betrayal were festering in the city’s heart, and that hate would lead Jesus to be bruised and beaten. I can hear Him gasping; I can see Him bleeding – as He dragged the heavy wooden cross along the Via Dolorosa…  the “Way of Sorrow”.

Good Friday

Good Friday was another tradition my grandparents held dear. When I was a child, Good Friday was a day when everything closed – stores, shops, restaurants – between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM. These were the hours during which. the church told us, that Jesus was hanged on the cross spending his last few tortured hours on this Earth. 

I will never forget the quiet that surrounded my world between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM on Good Friday. The only thing I have ever experienced that even comes close to that was the day after 9/11 when the world seemed to stand still.

Easter Vacation

When I was in grade school, Good Friday always occurred during Easter vacation. It wasn’t spring break back then; it was Easter vacation. The world changed and suddenly Easter and Christmas were words you can’t use anymore – at least not in the same breath with schools or the government. I’m not saying that is bad or good, I am just saying things changed. Someone let them change. But don’t think the world is any better for it.

Easter

I am eleven years old. It is a misty, cool Easter Sunday morning. Gloomy really. My grandparents bought me a new blazer to wear to church and I’m wearing it, although it seems too big for me. My grandmother went to the florist shop yesterday and bought me a white carnation for my blazer’s lapel. I can smell it without even putting my nose down to it.

I am ready for church before my grandparents and I walk outside into the cool and gloomy morning. I am a little bit sad that I didn’t hunt for Easter eggs this morning – I guess I’m too old for that. My grandmother did put together an Easter basket for me though – it has a big white chocolate rabbit in it. I wish my mom could be with me this Easter. I am having a tough time accepting that she’s never going to come back and be with me again.

My shoes are new and shiny, and I can see misty raindrops on them. It’s not raining really, it’s more of a drizzle that comes and goes. I guess it’s the sky crying my tears for me, because I’m eleven, and I’m too big to cry now.

I notice that for the first time this spring the tulips are blooming, but just the yellow ones. The red and white ones are not yet ready. Easter rarely comes in March, but this year is the exception. The tulips just can’t be hurried. The yellow ones must grow up faster than the other colors.

I am standing on the porch of my grandparent’s home, ready for church on this strange and sad Easter Sunday morning. I have a new blazer that my grandmother bought for me and it is too big for me, I think. I am wearing a white carnation that smells nice. I am all dressed up because it’s Easter Sunday and it’s nearly time to go to church.

I will never forget that sad and emotional Easter. I will never forget the raindrops on my new shiny shoes. I will never forget the too-big blazer, the way the white carnation smelled… or the bright yellow tulips.

I’ve never had an Easter like that again.  Since then, the world sure got busy and full of itself. No one has time anymore. I don’t know which world is better, but my heart yearns to tell me what I already know… the memories I made are all that I have left of the world as it was.

I wonder if moms and dads and grandfathers and grandmothers know just how important it is to keep traditions and make special memories with their children and grandchildren. Memories are the only gifts we can give our kids and grandkids that will never wear out, tarnish, or rust. And no one can ever take them away. 

Easter is a wonderful time for traditions and memories. Start a tradition. Make some memories. Start right now. It’s Eastertime – a time for renewal and rebirth — and a time to remember and rejoice.

Wishing you and your family a very…

Happy Easter!