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Easter Sunday is the day Christians all over the world celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Many will attend Mass or services and usually that is followed by a special meal. Nowadays, it seems Easter has taken on a Christmas-like quality where children not only get Easter baskets, but also are showered with gifts.
That was not the case when I was growing up. As the saying goes, times were a lot simpler back then.
For my family, Easter started a week or two early. There was great preparation for the holiest of holy days. You see, back then, it wasn’t so much commercialized. Those days, Easter Sunday was all about religion and the meaning behind the day.
Before Easter arrived, my mom and dad took us clothes shopping for our Easter outfits. Yes, even boys had to have new outfits. The Wyoming Valley Mall didn’t exist so we shopped in either downtown Pittston or we ventured all the way to Wilkes-Barre. Going to Wilkes-Barre as a kid was like going to New York City for us. It was a huge event.
My younger sister would get a new dress, patent leather shoes and a hat. Mom was big on hats, especially when attending church. Later on in life, many at St. Anthony’s Church referred to her as the “hat lady.”
My older brother and I would get a new suit or, at the very least, a blazer if money was tight, always a new pair of pants, shirt and tie. If our old shoes were too badly scuffed and Dad couldn’t put a good shine on them, we would get a new pair. And yes, up until a certain age, we, too, received new hats.
I could remember Good Friday being a somber day and if you did any activity between noon and 3 p.m., you were in big trouble. That three-hour block was observed for the time Christ was crucified. As a child, I always thought it got dark and cloudy during that time period.
Saturday night before Easter, we had to have our baths in order to be ready once we rose the next day (no pun intended). Mom made sure my sister’s hair was done to perfection.
Easter Day was a treat. For as somber, dark and cloudy as Good Friday was, Easter Sunday was sunny with deep blue skies. I’m sure it wasn’t always that way, but it seemed that way. You knew the day was special because Jesus had been resurrected and everyone was happy.
Mom and Dad did not hide our baskets or eggs like some in other households did. We just woke up, ran down the stairs to see three beautifully-adorned wicker baskets wrapped in cellophane with frilly ribbons closing them up at the top. Often times, the cellophane would be three different colors separating each basket.
We couldn’t take any of the candy when we woke; there was protocol to follow. First and foremost, we had to get dressed for church. As I sit here thinking back, when I got a new pair of shoes for Easter, I always ended up with a blister on the back of my foot and we would have to put Band-Aids on them so the shoe wouldn’t rub against my foot so much.
Soon enough, we were off to church where it was wall-to-wall parishioners. If you didn’t get to church early enough, you were in jeopardy of not getting a seat. Mass was long and when you were 7 or 8, long was forever! All you could think about was getting back home for candy.
After Mass, we headed to the cemetery to visit our departed loved ones. For some reason, we always took family photos next to their tombstones. Was that just my family or did everyone do that back then? I’m not sure, but I have a lot of photos of me squinting into the camera in a cemetery.
Next came the big family meal, one not much different from our traditional Christmas meal. Pretty much ravioli and turkey were served and, every now and then, Mom would mix it up and get a ham instead of turkey.
After the meal we finally got to indulge in our candy. Usually, we’d find a solid chocolate bunny (no hollow bunnies for us) and a chocolate cross as well as coconut crème egg and jellybeans. It was Heaven on Earth!
There wasn’t much time for fun because we had to pitch in on after meal cleanup and then we would get dressed up again to make our rounds and visit family — grandparents, uncles and aunts.
Soon enough, we’d make it back home and if we were lucky, we would have visitors and out came the food once again.
Back then it was about God, tradition, family and food. I would go back in a heartbeat.
Happy Easter to those celebrating Sunday!