Remembering

I’ve been remembering the many Easters I’ve celebrated in my life.  Growing up, Easter meant family dinners, candy and joyous church celebrations.  As a child, it was a special family day.  Dad would order orchid coursages for my grandmother, my great aunts, my mother and once in a while, for me too.  We’d all wear them to our home church, the Alhambra Church of Religious Science.  I remember feeling very special with my beautiful flower and new clothes.  We’d have a big fancy ham dinner with all the relatives.  Later, my grandmother’s friends, Walt and Helen Linsky, would visit bringing chocolate eggs for us.  Later after I married, I remember enthusiastically inviting friends over for special Easter brunches with heart shaped waffles and fresh strawberries and whipped cream. As our children arrived and grew, we hid Easter eggs and had a special big Easter dinner, very often with friends.  Now, I appreciate the meaning of Easter.  It is a day to celebrate bright renewed hope and the power of love overcoming even death.  Even though  I don’t believe in a physical resurrection, today I celebrate the Easter mystery by working in my garden nurturing new life.