Easter Memories

by John M. Goralka

A Special Day

With five brothers and three sisters, Easter was always a special holiday. Easter began the week before when we all decorated Easter eggs with what I think was food coloring: we could dip the eggs in bowls of colored liquid and then draw or decorate the eggs with stickers. My mom would have us dressed for church in special matching outfits. One year, my dad’s beeper went off in church and my dad looked around and pretended it was not his.

After Brunch

We would return home for the most amazing brunch. My mom loved mimosas and we could share just a little on Easter. Then we always had an Easter egg hunt. We searched for colored plastic eggs with candy inside. There was always a large box of See’s candy circulating the room. Over the years, we noticed that someone was pushing in the bottoms of the chocolates to identify the filling. Only years later did we discover that it was my mom.

Amazing Memories

One of the most memorable Easters was when we woke to find a colored string with a number (which corresponded to our number in the birth order) by our bed. We all followed our respective strings around the furniture, through different rooms, often crossing the strings of our siblings to finally find our hidden Easter baskets.

My siblings and I recreated that with our own children, using colored strings and numbers as we all stayed at my parents same ranch house that Easter. A great memory and that was even better replayed with my own kids.

I hope that you and your families enjoyed a blessed Easter.

Photos I'd Like to Share With You

- John