Easter Memory (Quack!)

With Easter coming up, (I mean HERE, is it Tomorrow already?), I wanted to take a pass down memory lane and find some stories that I had "filed for later use".

Each Easter, for as long as I can remember, contained the "new clothes" aspect. The boys (my older brothers Dave and Al) and myself always "happily" joined in this tradition. Like many of our generation, new clothes only came at designated times: new school year, Easter, Christmas, and in-between times when we outgrew current clothing items. It was always fun back then, (Oh, that sounds like sooo long ago! I AM talking like an old person now!) to see all the pretty pastel dress, coats, sock, new WHITE shoes and matching bonnets! Loved the bonnets....don't get to see those as much any more. Seems like EVERY lady wore a hat. So sophisticated....with the white gloves and all. Grandma McBride (she just turned 102 years old on April 7th!) ALWAYS wore gloves to church...so classy! Some traditions, I wish, would never go away...and dressing up for special occasions at church is one of those.

Sunrise service at Wellsburg was always a cool event. Our pastor then, Rev. L.C. Porter. would preach a small sermon and we would sing a couple songs. Not everyone would attend, but loved getting old enough to be "one of the faithful few" who could say they went to church three times in one day! :)

The traditional of "Hiding Easter Eggs" back then (yes, more than 30 years ...OK, closer to over 40 year ago!), was a whole different deal. No plastic for us! Not even much chocolate....as a matter of fact, think we only got one small, hollow, chocolate bunny. The eggs were, real, bonifide, hard-boiled, prettily colored eggs. My mother-in-law and I were discussing this just the other day......how did we keep from getting ill? The eggs were taken in our cars, left in the hot sun, hidden in the grass, found by the kids, cracked open and eaten all without refrigeration for HOURS! Just cannot get over how often this scenario happened and NO KID GOT SICK! We either had God's extra protection, or he was looking over our ignorance! I'm not saying you can't hide eggs today, I'm just saying you wouldn't leave them "out" that long...letting the salmonella grow!

Dad started a tradition when we kids were small...every Easter he would go get three ducks at the local 5 & 10 Store. He would bring one home for each of us in a "shoe" size box. We "nurtured" them up to adulthood. They were so much fun running around the yard with our dogs. Don't worry, they could defend themselves. No problem there!

I must tell the "Carrot" story here. It is one that has been told at my expense for years, upon years. Mom, Dad and the "boys" still recite it upon occasion to bring embarrassment, guilt and laughter to all those who get to hear.

To begin, I must make a confession.....when I was young, I would NOT eat vegetables. Anyone who knows me knows, realizes that I finally outgrew this crazy stage somewhere in my thirties. I now eat all vegetables except peas (only accepted if hidden in soup or creamed 'something), Lima beans and Brussels sprouts. But at the time of my youth, corn was my only vegetarian friend. I could eat ear after ear of corn at a setting....make a whole meal of it, for a fact!

Now Mom was a stickler for preparing a meat, vegetable and potato at EVERY meal....and also a "Sergeant General" for making her kids clean their plate before going out to play. For this reason, I was always left at the table "HOURS" after everyone else. When the vegetables were put on my plate, I literally cringed! The peas or mixed vegetable varieties were particularly gruesome. The vegetables "rolled in my napkin and put in the trash" option never worked... All mother's must have the "secret handbook" for these types of options and I was busted! My cousins, Nila and Marla, would come over to play for a few hours after school. I would tell them that I wasn't finished eating. They would try to talk me into eating them quickly so all would be well and "play time" could begin. I remember us trying the "cracker" method to hurry the process along. This method required you to stuff your mouth full of crackers and one pea....chew, and hope the taste of the pea would be camouflaged by the crackers (like using the pot-pie, "don't look, just chew" mentality). Once this was tried, I was amazed how I would "gag" on the one pea that I could taste in all it's "waxiness". (I still don't like them today because of the "waxy" nature of their texture!) A few other times, my cousins would eat the veggies for me and off we would go as I yelled, "Vegetables all gone Mom", as we ran out for play-time.

Well, Mom had gotten smart and I think she realized what my cousins were doing...so, I was not allowed to have anyone else in the kitchen til I finished eating....all alone. So, on one day in particular, I was sitting alone in the kitchen (hours after everyone had finished) hoping my vegetables would "vanish" off my plate. Since it was Summer-time, the windows were open to allow the house to cool down in the evening and I heard the ducks outside the window. What a cool thing! I just hurriedly scraped my plate of carrots out the window to the awaiting, hungry ducks. All would have gone well if the ducks would not have gotten so happy about the treat! They started quacking, and quacking and quacking even louder....Mom and Dad ran into the kitchen to see what was going on....too bad Daffy (think that was one of their names...) had a beak-full of carrots and was bragging about it! Talk about grounded....think I finally learned the "cracker" method til I made it to my teens and started eating out! Or fixing my own meals...:)

When my kids were small, an Easter basket was always prepared with "yummy goodies" for my girls. Nellie liked chocolate in any size, shape or form. Shelly like her goodies AND an Archie comic book included. (I still have the collection on the shelf...waiting for the grand kids to come along and get "Hooked on Archie":))

Fun times for sure.....with the world spinning faster and faster, time flying by, the times to recollect about humorous stories seems to slip us by. Take the time to tell your kids some of your funny "anecdotes". They need to know some of your "imperfections" so they can feel ok knowing they are not perfect. It's alright to laugh "with each other", just not "at each other".....I love any of the "with" times, don't you?

Tell me a funny story about yourself. Let it go...bring it out of the closet into the light! Time to laugh is here.....let's let out a "cackle" even a "snort".... sharing is caring.....so let's care-a lot!