Easter As We Knew It

E

Every Easter Mom would buy us kids a nice "Sunday best" outfit. Jean and I would have a GLORIOUS dress complete with hat, gloves, and purse and the boys would have a suit topped with a bowtie. She would line us up, camera in hand to prove to future generations that we could stand still long enough for a picture to be taken.

I can't remember Easter ever being celebrated in Lethbridge, we spent it in Calgary with my Mother's family, which only makes sense since we regularly spent two weekends a month there. Mom's family were a gregarious bunch, full of life with no hesitation to grab you and give you a big hug! (Especially Uncle Tom and Aunt Rose) We would stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house which wan't really big enough to have 7 humans invading on a regular basis as there were 4 adults living there already, but everyone pitched in and we survived!!

/div>Easter Sunday would start with we kids looking for our baskets full of treats which were often hidden indoors because of snow or inclement weather. I remember looking behind a couch and finding a basket which I gleefully grabbed, sat down ready to consume when my Mother read the tag and told me it wasn't mine!! "OH NO, where's MINE??!!" How would I know, I couldn't read yet, but years to come I would find another's basket and was quite proud of myself for not revealing it's wereabouts. I do recall taking pity on my baby brother Allan and guiding him to his trove.

All morning my Grandmother would be in the kitchen making breakfast which usually consisted of baked kielbasa, freshly baked bread, homemade jam, and farm eggs!! WOW, the aroma filled the house and we anxiously filled our plates in spite of just stuffing candy in our mouths. "No more junk", my Mother would say, "You'll spoil your appetite!"

One by one my Mother's siblings would arrive with their families and we were especially excited when Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim showed up with their boys, Ricky, Danny and Frankie as they were our only cousins at the time. Soon the living room would be full with laughter, teasing, and eating....LOTS of eating!

As teenager, one sentence rings in my ears: "Mom, I want the blue one, you know my favorite colour is BLUE!!!!"

Do You Remember:

*Flocked Easter Cards? (I would love to rub my fingers on the "velvet")

*Chenille chicks with wired feet?

*Large chocolate eggs decorated with hard icing flowers and zig zags?

*Live chicks dyed in a variety of colors?

*Hollow chocolate bunnies? (You started with the ears!)

*The ringing of church bells peeling loud and clear?

*Brightly colored eggs with a white center?(Yuk, I hated these but they sure looked pretty in the basket!)

*Chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies or eggs (Yum, my favorite)

*Dying and decorating eggs with the help of Mom of course! Do you remember drawing a design on the white egg in melted wax and then soaking it in the dye afterward?

*Foil wrapped rabbits, eggs, or chicks?