Happy Easter

Easter always has me thinking of growing up. As a kid, it was just as exciting as Christmastime. The anticipation of that Easter basket was almost too much to bear!

I've always been an early riser. My Dad was making coffee at 4:00 every morning, and I wandered out of bed shortly thereafter. Looking back, that hour with him before Mom joined us was magical. Even as a little kid Dad and I would have real grown-up conversations. I always felt so comfortable talking to him about anything. I'm sure as I grew older those early morning talks had a lot to do with his hair sprouting some gray!

The Easter morning that kept Mom and Dad in stitches until the day they died was when I was about six years old. Don and I both were told every Easter morning that we had to stay in bed until 5:00, because if we got up too early and caught the Easter Bunny leaving our baskets, that he might not want to come back to visit us. So I would lay there and lay there until I heard Mom get up. Then it was time!

This particular Easter Sunday I thought I heard her. So I hauled it out of bed, and when I rounded the corner into the living room, in the dim light I saw this HUGE white bunny standing by the coffee table. OMG, I had caught the Easter bunny!!

You've never heard such shrieking in your life! I ran down the hallway to my bedroom screaming at the top of my lungs! I jumped back in my bed and hid under the covers. Of course, all the commotion brought Mom and Dad running to see what was the matter. I was crying and sobbing. When they got me settled down a bit, enough to tell them the problem, I told them I had caught the Easter Bunny leaving my basket. Dad started laughing - his wonderful laugh that started deep in his belly and sort of rolled out of his mouth. He was laughing so hard that he couldn't speak. Then Mom, who was trying to console me, started laughing. They both had their heads back, tears running down their faces, and were just howling with laughter. I was crying, they were laughing - the more I cried, the more they laughed - and laughed and laughed. Of course, my crying ceased as I was watching them. They would just about get composed, and Mom would start giggling and off they would go again!

Laughter didn't come easily to Mom. (Note to self: Remember to blog that picture of Mom when she was pregnant with me. She actually looks ticked off! LOL) She was very serious about life, and had little, if any, sense of humor. My Dad, on the other hand, although very quiet, had a fabulous sense of humor, and loved to pick on Mom when she got too serious. Thank goodness Don and I both take after him in that regard! Well, not the "quiet" part, for sure! Watching her laugh that day with uncontrolled mirth is something I will never forget!

Oh, the rest of the story! As it turns out, the Easter Bunny left me a giant stuffed bunny that was too big to sit on the coffee table by my basket. So he left it standing on the side of the coffee table. That white stuffed bunny is what I saw, not the real Easter bunny! But you can bet that every Easter after that, I would go into their bedroom to get Mom before I ventured out into the living room!

I want to wish everyone in Bloggerland a most joyous Easter Sunday. I know not everyone is a Christian, but it's the JOY of this day, regardless of your religion or belief, that I would like to share. I hope that everyone gets to laugh today, or even smile just the teeniest bit. That's my wish for everyone!