Easter Memories

I've always been curious about the ways my friends and their families differ in their easter egg hunt/easter basket traditions. 

When I was a kid, my family never used the common, plastic eggs that are usually filled with various candies. Instead, my sister and I searched the house for small chocolate eggs in beautiful, shiny, foil wrappings. Our baskets contained old-fashioned, cardboard eggs, the size of ostrich eggs, filled with jelly beans (the licorice ones were my favorite), and sometimes, if we were lucky, a My Little Pony. 

I had one friend whose family hid the kids’ entire easter baskets, which I always thought seemed silly (how easy it must be to find an entire basket!), until I was present one year at the festivities, and realized how difficult it can be if your parents are dedicated and tricky. 

And my friend Margaret’s mom hid candy-filled plastic eggs around the house for her three daughters, with the exception of one egg, which contained a single penny. The lucky girl who found the penny was awarded the large chocolate bunny from the communal easter basket. 

Friday night, I had the pleasure of dying easter eggs with Margaret and her daughter for the first time. It has been years since I’ve dyed an egg, and it was a joy to watch my “niece” discover the process of mixing colors and learning how the dye color gets brighter with time. 

Saturday night, after the kid was in bed, I got to help Margaret hide the plastic eggs full of M&Ms around the living room. 

I’ll be spending Easter with my family, so I won’t be able to see her daughter's eyes when she finds the eggs, but I’m sure her mom will take pictures. And I won’t forget the look on her face Friday night, when she lay in bed and said her “best time of day was dying eggs with Auntie Liz”. Happy Easter, everyone. I hope you are building your own lovely memories and traditions.