Easter Sunday

Rituals are a beautiful thing, steeped in faith, culture, and traditions. Like every other Christian family we had our Easter traditions.  Of course it all centers around the religious aspect of the resurrection of Christ.  We attended mass and that was a feat in logistics itself. Easter attire was up there with first day of school importance. For the girls a new dress, ankle sock-lets with shiny black patent leather shoes, and of course an Easter Bonnet. The boys had dress pants, white shirts and little bow ties. Those were the days of women wearing hats to church. Grandma would invariably be looking for her hat pin before we could load up the car with our dainty little bodies. If I was really lucky there would be a little purse to go with my dress and shoes. Oh how important you felt all dressed up. We were packed in the car like jelly beans in a jar. By the time we reached the church the boys would usually have their shirt tails out, and my hat would be es cued.  We would march into the church, mom in toe always with a baby on her shoulders and find a whole pew to occupy.  Mass was said in Latin and totally lost on all of us. I was more interested in looking at the colorful, flowing, purple and gold robes of the priest and at all the shiny objects and statues around the church.  The alter was always adorned with giant Lilly's and the whole room smelled so clean and fresh. Unfortunately our young minds were more on what was waiting for us back at the house rather than the solemnness of the occasion.
I was the chief who would orchestrate the Easter Egg treasure hunt. I had so much fun drawing maps, pinning clues, and hiding the prizes. I remember one year when the final x was to look into the washing machine, after the siblings had trekked all over the yard and house. Voila, X marked the spot.
Sometimes our aunts would bring us chocolate Easter eggs. or little marsh-mellow peep treats. I was totally  mesmerized by the candy eggs that had little windows that you could peek into.  It was magic to me. We would all run around, devour our treats, and play while mom prepared our Easter Dinner. It was usually a ham with all the trappings. The kitchen would have all these good smells coming from it and we would keep asking "how long till dinner?"
It was a time when relatives lived in close proximity. Aunts and Uncles would stop by and Dad would buy a beautiful Lilly for his mother and our mother. Cousins would compare notes, and show off their outfits.  Little did we know that these traditions would be a cherished part of  our memory and that future generations would modify them to the suit their very different lives and work schedules.