Flashback Friday #3 - Easter Memories

Welcome to the third edition of Flashback Friday! With Easter just a little more than a week away, I thought it would be fun to share how we all celebrated Easter when we were growing up.

What was Easter like when you were little? For example, did you receive a basket with toys and candy? Was the Easter Bunny part of your family's celebration? Did your family integrate both secular and spiritual aspects of the day? Did you dye Easter eggs. . . .and did your family eat them afterwards? Did you usually get a new outfit? (Post a picture if you have one!) Does any Easter stand out particularly? You might also share how your Easter today is similar or different to your childhood.

My parents didn't make a big fuss about Easter. I remember dying eggs a few times. We never ate them - my mom was afraid of the dye, I think. My two big sisters usually hid plastic eggs for me to find. It's funny - I don't think it ever occurred to me that people put candy in those eggs since that didn't happen at our house! I don't know what I thought the purpose of their being hollow was - except I had fun switching them around and putting two different colors together! I also never got an Easter basket with treats in it.

My mom loved the song from the old movie Easter Parade with Judy Garland - there was another version as well with Bing Crosby, who was my mom's favorite! I remember her singing this song around the house every spring:



Easter bonnets hats were still in vogue when I was in early elementary school, and I remember having a white one. I hated it because the elastic that went under the chin drove me crazy! We had a new outfit lots of times, which my mom sewed. I do remember one time - I was either in first or second grade - and my Sunday School teacher gave me a store-bought blue dress for Easter. (Being store-bought was a huge deal because my mom sewed plus I got hand-me-downs from 2 sisters, their 2 friends, and 3 cousins!) I wish I had a picture of it - it had a dropped waist and pleats in the skirt and was a robin's egg shade of blue. And she gave me a long "pearl" necklace. I remember tying a knot in the pearls like grown-ups did and feeling so dressed up! Of course, in the South, Easter ushered in the white shoe season!

We went to church, as we did every week. There was nothing unusual about the service except for the songs and the altar flowers. (I've never been to an Easter sunrise service.) I remember we always sang "Christ Arose." It always made me laugh a bit because we sang the verses really slow and the chorus fast. We sang the chorus after every verse (some folks now sing the 3 verses together before the chorus!), so it was funny to go from the fast "He arose!" chorus back to a slow verse where He was still in the tomb! (If you're not familiar with that hymn, you can hear an organ version here.

CHRIST AROSE
Words & Music by Robert Lowry, 1874

Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus my Lord!

Refrain:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus my Lord!

Death cannot keep its Prey,
Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away,
Jesus my Lord!

Sometimes we would drive to see my paternal relatives north of Dallas. Back in the 1960s/early 1970s the trip took a lot longer than it does now! We would get there about 2:00 Saturday afternoon and leave to drive back to Houston as soon as the big family lunch was over.

Since I never had one, it's always been important to me for my kids to get an Easter basket. The biggest tradition is that I create a treasure hunt for them to find their baskets. The clues are always rhyming riddles. We generally do that on Sunday afternoon after lunch. Their baskets containe candy, books, or other small treats. When they were little I would put a nickel or dime in some of the eggs. (One year my sister hid eggs for them out in the yard and forgot where she hid them! The kids found all but one, and finally gave up. We had forgotten all about it until almost a year later when someone inadvertently found it!) We also do the resurrection eggs as a family. We love going to our church's Good Friday service as well as our Sunday service - these are both sweet times of worship.


What about you? Be sure to link up here with your flashback post so we can enjoy your memories!