I found an old Easter photograph. My Mom must have taken this photo in the old farm house. We are standing in the kitchen, the door to upstairs is behind us and the door to the living room is off to the left of the photograph.
Me and my baby brother in 1958.
My Easter basket was marked on the handle with a crayon. I am not sure what color my brothers was marked with..I think mine was orange. We usually had some green grass and some hard boiled eggs that we had colored and some chocolate and jelly beans in our basket. The oval baskets were our first baskets and the round ones got added later. Can you remember those hard boiled eggs that used to sit in those baskets for days..not refrigerated..and then finally they became a table decoration..until someone ate them. Uffda..it is a wonder that we didn’t get a foodborne illness.
April 6 was Easter Sunday that year when I was 7 and my baby brother was 4.
See those chairs? The ones with the rubber thingys on their legs so the metal wouldn’t poke through the linoleum? Those were the “chairs” the ones that we had to sit in after church if we goofed off in church..or giggled..or squirmed too much. I hated sitting still in those chairs..sometimes we sat side by side but most of the time we sat back to back so we couldn’t agitate each other…and giggle..it was serious business you know.
I would much rather sit still for one hour instead of two. It was about this time that I learned to play games in church..God knew..I figured I would be struck dead..but wasn’t so my games continued.
What can you do in church to occupy an hour? What do you see? I saw THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL…so I would form words in my head every Sunday. Most of the time it worked..it kept me out of that second hour where there was no THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL to occupy my mind. Sometimes I just couldn’t control my giggles..and once I started it was really hard to stop. The second hour became my time to daydream..making up stories in my head..ones where I was always the heroine..and famous..with beautiful sparkly dresses.
My parents were good church goers..they went every Sunday just like clockwork. No one was ever excused.. I am not sure that was a good thing. God is everywhere..in the flowers and in the trees and even in the snow covered countryside. I can talk to him anytime..night or day…not just on Sundays:)
Boy, does that photo and story bring back memories. Same baskets, same chairs, same church stories. I too was made to go to church every Sunday. Easter Sunday was sunrise service at 6:00AM. Sitting still was very hard for me also. Today I am not a regular church goer but am a strong believer. God is everywhere. He doesn't exist only in a building; He is everywhere. Church is for fellowship which we all need at some time or another. Sometimes more than other times. But I always talk to God not matter where I am and He listens.
ReplyDeleteYep, me too. Going to church every Sunday, dressed up. I did like the flowers and the music for Easter Sunday. Now I am pagan, celebrating Easter as a time of renewal of life, of Spring. The flowers are still big with me.
ReplyDeleteI still have the Easter basket I had as a child. Back then we did keep the same baskets year after year, didn't we. And no one ever got sick from unrefrigerated hard boiled eggs.
They may not have been the good old days, but there were many good things about them.
Definitely a lot of memories come to mind after seeing your photo. My Easter baskets were used year after year/ grass, too. Today, they are thrown away and repurchased the following year. I think I still have some green Easter grass from ages ago.
ReplyDeleteMy mother made a game out of finding the Easter basket - she left clues for me to follow. One clue on my shoes, another on the toothbrush, another on the table, etc. until I managed to "find" my basket filled with jelly beans, dyed eggs, an occasional chocolate bunny or marshmallow egg.
I love this post, the photo, the memories, the ones you evoked in me. I looked through that Lutheran Hymnal, too. Read the words, looked at the tune. I also sat by my Grandma and braided the strings on her shawl. I still daydream in church. I've had many inspirations for stories! It's a good place to ponder.
ReplyDeleteA great post. The memories and the photos take me in time.
ReplyDeleteI believe me and my two younger brothers had the same Easter baskets filled with greem stuffing, gumdrops and chocolate candy. Except that year I was a junior in high school and assigned the job of hiding the Easter eggs. They only found about half of them and I couldn't remember some of the rest. Needless to say it was months before my mom found the rest and I was never assigned the hiding job again....:)
ReplyDeleteSweet, melancholy post. So many memories. Thank you <3
ReplyDeleteGreat post as usual, I think wistful Wednesday's are my favorite!
ReplyDeleteAfternoon, what a wonderful story and picture, so cute......brought back memories of my childhood too....Blessings Francine.
ReplyDeleteHi Connie, I enjoyed your memories and the photo. I don't have any photos of Easter baskets but I do remember them. I also remember when they sold pastel colored live chicks. Oooohhh. As you say, I'm surprised any of us lived!
ReplyDeleteEaster blessings to you all.
All I do in church these days is bawl...and then I want to run...and I hope we pray long enough for my tears to stop falling...sometimes a boy will fetch Kleenex for me but they don't ask why...since they know it will only make cry harder...
ReplyDeleteWonderful story. I use many of those techniques for church too. My parents were true church goers. If the outside church light was on, you could be assured I was inside. Sunday was mass, Weekdays during the school year was mass, then on Wednesday night there was some type of devotions. OMG, no wonder my 'catholic' knees are going to hell!!
ReplyDeleteThere were different expectations in those days and different ways to enforce it. Sometimes it wasn't pretty. To your folks their faith was extremely important to them and they thought it should be that way for all. Sometimes that doesn't work out for some folks.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely shot. Wishing you a great Easter and happy birthday to your brother.
ReplyDeleteI gave up organized religion for Lent! LOL! I used to get the giggles too! Really bad and once I got going I couldn't stop. I love to laugh still...and now they've discovered it's healthy for you! Why didn't they listen to us way back then? Sometimes parents aren't as smart as we give them credit for! LOL! Happy Easter!
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