Post-Easter Thought

My Easter was a little different.

For the very first time ever, I did not wake up in the house I grew up in on Easter morning.

And even if I had woken on Easter morning in the house I grew up in, I probably would have been overwhelmed by nostalgia and sadness because it was the very first holiday without my Mom. My mom, who filled Easter baskets for her daughters no matter how old we were.

Instead, I woke up at Johnny's house early so I could make myself presentable before the hour long drive to my Dad's church. When I went into the kitchen, I discovered Easter bags, one for me and one for Johnny, from his loving and giving mother. She remembered I can't have chocolate and gave me all of my favorite candy as well as a bag of banana chips, the best dried fruit in existence. It made me smile.

We went to church with my family, and that was weird because a.) we sat in the back next to the sound booth and we usually sit near the front and b.) they almost completely eliminated the church lobby in order to create more seating because c.) there were more people there that I didn't know than ones that I did. BUT. The music was wonderful, showcasing a few of the younger generation's ability to sing and play the violin, and Dad's sermon was the best I have heard in quite some time. It wasn't your usual Easter sermon at all, as he preached about the 1046 pages between Genesis 3:22-24 and Revelation 22:1-5, which is the number of pages between the banishment from the garden of Eden and getting back to the Tree of Life. "Jesus got us the garden back! How did He do it: the 1046 pages in between!" (Dad's facebook status on Sunday). It was wonderful. I wouldn't mind hearing it again.

However, the service was culminated by my younger sister getting up on stage and playing the piano. She was going to sing too, but the song she chose was "How Beautiful", the song my Mom always sang, the song I posted on here back in January. She couldn't even choke out the first line before the tears came. I was sitting with my other sister Jennie, and the two of us were crying as well, but also singing along from our seats until Jennie decided to join Anne on stage and finish out the song. I don't think any of us will ever be able to perform that song without releasing the floodgates.

After church we went back to the house, where I promptly locked my keys in my car and we were a half hour late getting to my sister's in Columbus because it took so long to break in. After getting hanger stuck in a crease in the door, Dad working on the passenger side while Johnny took over for me on the driver's, hangers breaking and a few close misses, Johnny finally scored and got the door unlocked. It put me in an unfortunate bad mood, but I got over it by the time I made deviled eggs at Erin's.

Yes. I am THE family deviled egg maker, and I am proud to say that I made 22 deviled eggs and they were all gone by the time everyone was served.

Dinner was also when Dad went through legal papers and gave each of his daughters a copy of the will he made up after Mom died, along with some other stuff.

We spent the afternoon eating a ridiculous amount of candy and playing Mario Kart on the Wii, which was great fun, while my Dad drove Jennie to the airport. Her two best friends paid for her to take a trip with them to Orlando, FL, to visit not only Disney but also Universal Studios and the new Harry Potter World. I could not be more jealous than I am about this. However, she did find out for me that butterbeer is caffeine free, so when I go someday I'll be able to have it. :)

The nice thing about my Easter was that it meant my trip back to Cincinnati was broken into three. I drove from Canton to New Concord, which is an hour, and then from New Concord to Columbus, another hour, and then from Columbus to Cincinnati, a mere hour and a half. It was glorious, and it meant that I could stick around at my sister's house and play Settlers of Catan and actually finishing the game before I had to leave.

It was all part of the new normal we as a family have to embrace. Traditions will change now that Mom is gone and that most of us are married or nearly married, and while that is the only kind of change I find hard to cope with it's something I'll have to get used to whether I want to or not. Now that we've experienced it once, every time it will get easier and easier until new traditions have been formed and cemented and we are all able to enjoy and appreciate and be thankful for the place this change has brought us to.

So I hope all of you, my wonderful readers, had a blessed Easter Sunday, whether you believe in God or not.