That Little Voice

Easter has come and gone, the black patent leather shoes purchased and worn, a new dress bought and shown off on Easter Sunday, the fake grass filled multicolored basket put away on the top shelf in the back closet, most of the colored eggs hidden in the yard found and broken, the chocolate rabbit’s ears eaten, and the local Easter Egg Hunt a memory.

It has been years since I have worn any patent leather shoes, and close to the same number of years since a new dress has been added to my wardrobe because of this annual celebration.

The last time I colored and hunted eggs, I was so frustrated because I couldn’t find any, I tossed that old basket across the room and swore never to hunt again. Of course, that was when I was in my mid-forties and my husband had hidden them thinking I was an adult.

I proved to him I was not an adult when it came to finding painted eggs in our small apartment. Besides, he was 6’3” barefooted and how did he expect me to find treasurers stashed away on the top shelves of the closet and kitchen cabinets? And tell me, what idiot would put an Easter egg in a butter dish in the refrigerator?

Just know, our marriage survived that bit of holiday tradition, but we discontinued further searches for Easter eggs.

All this is to point out some things have remained the same, but some things have adapted to new traditions and practices.

Do little girls still wear new pretty dresses and fancy shoes on Easter Sunday? Are little boys dressed in a shiny suit, white shirt, and a bow tie for the service?

Do parents still spend the night before Easter coloring eggs so the bunny can hide them? Or do they call it done when the kids scurry around the city park with hundreds of other children clutching expensive baskets hoping to fill them with candy eggs, not those old ‘real’ ones?

Whatever the attire, the messages from pulpits around the world continues to honor and promote love. After all, love is real and never dies.