Easter 2019

Easter 2019 has come and gone. It had more meaning for me this year. A little bit sad, though, in that Caroline suffered from a rather profound stomach bug. It left her bed- and couch-ridden for much of the weekend. Though that hampered our movement for the weekend, it did force us to slow down. Sherry completed some scrapbooking. I took some naps (in fairness, my break from work was very short . . . just Good Friday).

I was involved a lot at church, which is somewhat normal for me now at Easter. But the variety of music was quite good and the tone of worship was a good balance between special but still authentic. I'm benefiting, also, from the confidence and comfort that comes from finding one's true niche in a church community.

It was the first Easter, though, since my grandmother passed away. The pastor at her funeral warned us that we would miss her at unexpected times, and Easter proved to be one of those moments. A few years ago, conversation with her prompted me to look up what exactly the Paschal full moon has to do with determining the date of Easter in a given year. In my youth, Easter was typically spent at her house, and she threatened that there would be no Easter dinner if we didn't go to worship. Her little Methodist church usually sang "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," and her voice didn't lend itself particularly well to the Alleluia that ends each line of that hymn. But I certainly associate peanut butter-filled chocolate eggs with the holiday, something she enjoyed making for us. And I was grateful that my mom found a way to obtain some for our family gathering yesterday.

an egg

When I got older, I became more involved in music at my church, which meant an end to trips up to Mill Hall for Easter. But there was usually a phone call. Or she would be with us for Easter day itself. Weather wouldn't prohibit her from visiting either Mom or Uncle Larry for this holiday like it might keep her from visiting at Christmas or during one of our birthdays.

So there was a pang this year, a pang that came from missing someone who wasn't present. A pang that came from knowing there was one phone call I didn't need to make. About a year ago is when her health began to decline dramatically. I was lucky to have had a grandmother with me for my first forty-two Easter Sundays.