I remember the spring rains made for muddy driveways, and our farm had a long one. We didn't have 4-wheel-drive pickups to grind our way through the ruts, so getting to Mass took some struggle on Daddy's part to get us to the main road. I'd get all prettied up in the house, they'd have to carry me out to the car so I wouldn't get dirty, and then I'd sit in the back seat and pray to Blessed Mother that we'd make it up to the main road and not get stuck and have to stay at home. My life depended on us getting to church so everyone could see my new clothes.
A local grocer one year held a drawing for kids to win an Easter Lamb Cake. My Mom signed me up. At the time, I'm sure I didn't understand what "winning something" meant. Lo and behold, my name was drawn. We drove in to town, and the grocer's wife handed me a cake she had baked in the shape of a lamb laying in a bed of green coconut grass. We took the lamb home like it was alive, and I wouldn't let anybody touch it. The rest of the family thought we should cut into the cake and enjoy eating it for our Easter dessert. But, I held the ruler on this one. My cake was put on display and that was the end of that. A couple of weeks later, my dear little lamb started turning green. I almost died when I no longer had a choice in the matter, and we had to throw my once-in-a-lifetime cake away.
One Easter I remember it snowed during the night. My older brother noticed rabbit tracks out in the snow, so he told me this bull story that they were the tracks of the Easter Bunny. Omigod. How was I supposed to deal with something as big as that.
Coloring Easter eggs was such a big deal. The stubby wax pencil that came with the coloring kit was simply spectacular. I wrote our names and all sorts of swirly designs on the egg shell, then when we dipped the wire egg holder and the egg into a brightly colored dye, the wax marks would stay white. Magical, that's what that was!
Happy Easter, everyone!