"HAVE A BLESSED EASTER"

On this day, I wish you and yours a blessed Easter.

So many memories of Easters past still remain with me and that's a good

thing for it is those that make me happy. I well remember how much my

mom hated finding that plastic Easter grass everywhere! Personally, I loved it.

When my sons were old enough to have their own baskets, did they have

that shredded plastic grass? Yes, they did! And I'd find remnants of it a year

later hidden here and hidden there.

Looking back, I don't think I ever ate a dyed Easter egg nor did my sons.

Who would want to eat one that had been outside rolled around and cracked?

But the joy was in finding it--just a simple pleasure.

Easter was a day of dressing up and as a young girl, I had to wear a hat chosen by 

my mom and never liked any of them. Ever. My dresses weren't so bad but they had

to be made of cotton when I was a child and almost a teenager. Flimsy organza dresses

were considered taboo--isn't that a dumb thing? But they were. And all girls had to wear

socks with black or white shoes on Easter. I came to have a long hate affair with socks

for that reason.

As I got older, it was common for teenage girls to walk around the neighborhood all dressed 

up on Easter. Think "Easter Parade" left over for years and years but we did it. And lo and

behold, we got to choose our own hats and they were humdingers if ever! Big, flowery and

now considered "retro." I wish I had a picture to show you but those have been long gone.

My fondest Easter memories were of a huge family dinner and then going for a long drive 

to our capitol building here in town and into upper scale neighborhoods just to sight see.

And of course there was the proverbial Easter basket that seemed to never change much

for me: I didn't get toys. Candy. Lots of candy and jelly beans. And there was a feeling in

the air of a brand new day--perhaps that is truly what Easter is all about aside from the

real reason.

Today I wish you and yours a blessed Easter. And hope you have many memories to draw

up on as I do.

Sherry Hill