Happy Easter!

Once a year I have the pleasure of celebrating Easter, a holiday, which I greatly appreciate, and looking back have always appreciated a lot. I don’t think that I ever did go to an Easter service, but I sure did learn about the religious significance of the holiday. I guess the pagan traditions are the ones that are closest to my heart for this celebration.

I have a very fond memory of Easter, many Easter have left their trace in my memory, while many others have passed almost unnoticed.

One of these memories came back in full force with the passing away of my mother. It must be my first memory of Easter. Here is the image that I had in my head over the last few days:

I have been seeing a light, lots of light. Some forsythia branches adorned with beautiful coloured eggs. Today, I sat down to paint my memory, the only thing I left out is the copper red hair gleaming in the sunlight, as she was leaning over the table, I guess putting that basket of eggs onto it.

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Then there are memories of blowing the eggs empty, when I was very young we did this with the mouth, then we had a very igneous pomp that does the job in a more hygienic way and without two holes. I recall how we painted those eggs. Often times mine were ugly compared to the beauties my mother did. A few years back she even did one that looked like a church window…

There were egg hunts, with way too much chocolate. The Easter Bunny, in which I wanted to believe even after I spotted adults hide the eggs, just had too much to do that he needed some help, after all other kids were waiting too…

Have you ever had an Easter in the snow? While I was studying in University I visited my grandfather for Easter, the daffodils (or “Easter Bells” as they are called in Germany) were already blooming to be suddenly sticking their heads out of the snow.

Then last year, my daughter celebrated her 2nd Easter, but her first active one, what a joy for us parents as well as for the grandparents who were present. With my parents we proceeded to bake an Italian Easter cake, which is absolutely delicious if you like spinach that is.

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And then there was today, a beautiful but still chilly Easter. One with way too much chocolate, with many laughs, with the paining above, with new memories, maybe some for my daughter?

Happy Easter!

© Solveig Werner 2016. All rights reserved.