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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Family & Friends
- Subject: Biography / Autobiography
- Published: 04/04/2015
Easter's Past: Cold, Catholic, Cleveland
Born 1951, M, from Wilmington NC, United StatesEaster, I almost missed it this year. I didn't even know it was Easter Weekend until I tried to return a Library book. The sign on the door said:
"The Library will be closed on Good Friday, Saturday, and Easter Sunday."
Oh, my gosh, it is Easter Weekend? Who knew? Not me. Since I retired, I miss a lot of days, as I am in the throes of the world's longest second childhood. The world's longest summer holiday, too. I am quite childlike. I don't think about money, bills, holidays, days of the week, time of the day, or anything that requires planning, scheduling, or appointments. I just enjoy the day, whichever it may happen to be. Ah...but Easter, that was a huge part of my childhood.
I was born in 1951. 11th of my Mom's 12 children. By the time of my first Communion in 1958...I was already well indoctrinated to both the Religious/Spiritual aspects of Easter, and the much more kid friendly Easter Bunny, with the brightly colored eggs, chocolate rabbits, and yellow marshmallow treats. Oh, and Eggnog, the kids kind made with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and the adult kind: made with whatever brandy, sherry, liquor, or Scotch that was available. Some relatives, it was rumored, but never proven, even made a special brand of Eggnog with beer in it. Most of the adult level eggnog, did have a teensy weensy bit of alcohol in it. As my Aunt used to say: "Not as much as a Hot Toddy, but enough to put a twinkle in your eye."
Easter, when I was young, could be a truly spring like day, or, just as likely, a miserable winter's day, depending - in part- on whether March came in like a lion, or a lamb, and how close April was to either. It also was the single most gussied up day of the year. Dressed to the nines, all decked out, or in sixties parlance: "We were all stylin and profilin." Women wore their Sunday Best...Best Ever -that is. It was a new dress, worn only that one time - to church. Oh, sure, it might survive for a few dinners out with the hubby, or a dance or two, but never again would it brighten the inside of a church service. Younger women wore bright colors, girls, spectacular Easter Dresses, little girls paraded around in what can only be called: Little Princess's dresses: much lace, sparkly things, and pastels that were so bright they broke the color wheel. Shoes, I might add...to match.
Even though it was Easter, I always thought of the way the women and girls dressed for Easter Services, as well, like watching Christmas and Spring becoming one event, taking on the form of feminine beauty and grace. The colors were spread amongst the females of the congregation like brightly colored bouquets of exquisite flowers. Oh, and there were many flowers too... worn on their wrists, woven into their hair, or hanging from veils, or even pinned on- as corsages, almost any female over the age of 13 had flowers somewhere. Nobody but Dad could buy Mom- her corsage. Every year it was some sort of spectacular orchid - like a mad geneticist had broken the code of flowers, put forty colors, plus an amazing perfume in them. Lots of little girls carried their flowers...those were usually lilacs, or lilies, or tulips- again more color than you can drink in, even during a magnificent sunset. Rainbows as people.
Easter Sunday Mass, in the Catholic Faith, is a High Mass of the Highest Order. It lasts longer than a Catholic Wedding, if you went to one of those, and weren't brought up in the Faith, well...it was your first brush with eternity. It did give you time to ponder the miracle of rebirth- and the bright colors surrounding you reenforced the message : Life/Rebirth/Hope. The season of death, of suffering, of wilting, of sacrifice...was over. It was Spring, God was back. Flowers were blooming. Young love was everywhere. It was, and is, a new beginning. A chance to rise from your own past, and build a new life, in glorious technicolor. All is forgiven.
The Easter egg hunts were massive community affairs when I was a kid. Thousands of us turned up, never suspecting that just as many adults had been there a few hours earlier, breaking their backs, hiding eggs hither and yon- just so us kids could squeal with delight, and be proud of our finds. They always let the youngest go first, then the first graders...and surprisingly, later, the eighth graders....who were always surprised to see how much fun they had finding the few remaining eggs. Never again would we abandon our grown up status, to squeal with delight. No. Alas, I never, and as far as I know, neither did any of my friends participate in Easter Egg hunts after eighth grade. A pity...really.
Easter Feast, well Lent was over, so every imaginable treat was back on the table...including: Meat. Yep. Meat. I don't know about other Faith's, but we ate only fish during Lent. Meat...well, your mouth watered at the simple thought of bacon, burgers, or steak. Pavlov could have proved his theory in a heartbeat, with the simple message to a Catholic kid: "We have meat, now." Drool, drool, drool. In our home, the meat of choice? Ham. Not just ham, but a ham the size of a modern microwave. Buried in Pineapples with those little cloves stuck in it, and a maple sugar glaze. Drool, drool, drool. Pies, too many to count. Cakes, again, too many to count. For us young ones, soda pops! Thom Thumb sodas in their little bottles, with every flavor but cola. Grape and Orange NeHi, and you only drank the orange flavor when all the grape flavored ones had been taken. I didn't drink colas until I was 12. Then I liked RC Cola, Pepsi, and Coke...in that order. Finally, after the Ham was gone, the pies and cakes, and eggnog...we got Ice Cream. In my family, it was Neapolitan Ice Cream...Mom did not have time to grant everyone their personal favorite ice cream. With three flavors; Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry in one box, pretty much everyone got at least one flavor they liked. By the way, when I was a kid, ice cream was not healthy. It was rich, creamy, and probably should have come with either its own heart doctor, or a Surgeon General's Warning.
I was lucky enough to have a girlfriend at Easter...and if you haven't seen how pretty a young girl is ,who is in love, dressed up for Easter- and decked out in flowers, smelling like Spring itself is, well, you have missed one of the Natural Wonders of the World. Oh it doesn't end there either...for I married my Kathy, and had two little Easter Princesses myself, and many the egg got : colored, hidden, found- and eaten! The flowers, the girls, and the woman, all blooming with life. Watching your wife, become a mother, and then...a grand mother, with a little girl, and a little boy to call her grandchildren- one of not only life's natural wonders, but one of its most sublime miracles. For the Cycle of: Life/Rebirth/Hope- is apparent to you, it surrounds you as the Little Princesses you saw as a child, are replaced by the new set of Little Princesses, who will have to wait, fifty or sixty years to write about Easter's past...in their own lives. The cycle continues.
And that, my friends, was my Easter Past.
Easter's Past: Cold, Catholic, Cleveland(Kevin Hughes)
Easter, I almost missed it this year. I didn't even know it was Easter Weekend until I tried to return a Library book. The sign on the door said:
"The Library will be closed on Good Friday, Saturday, and Easter Sunday."
Oh, my gosh, it is Easter Weekend? Who knew? Not me. Since I retired, I miss a lot of days, as I am in the throes of the world's longest second childhood. The world's longest summer holiday, too. I am quite childlike. I don't think about money, bills, holidays, days of the week, time of the day, or anything that requires planning, scheduling, or appointments. I just enjoy the day, whichever it may happen to be. Ah...but Easter, that was a huge part of my childhood.
I was born in 1951. 11th of my Mom's 12 children. By the time of my first Communion in 1958...I was already well indoctrinated to both the Religious/Spiritual aspects of Easter, and the much more kid friendly Easter Bunny, with the brightly colored eggs, chocolate rabbits, and yellow marshmallow treats. Oh, and Eggnog, the kids kind made with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and the adult kind: made with whatever brandy, sherry, liquor, or Scotch that was available. Some relatives, it was rumored, but never proven, even made a special brand of Eggnog with beer in it. Most of the adult level eggnog, did have a teensy weensy bit of alcohol in it. As my Aunt used to say: "Not as much as a Hot Toddy, but enough to put a twinkle in your eye."
Easter, when I was young, could be a truly spring like day, or, just as likely, a miserable winter's day, depending - in part- on whether March came in like a lion, or a lamb, and how close April was to either. It also was the single most gussied up day of the year. Dressed to the nines, all decked out, or in sixties parlance: "We were all stylin and profilin." Women wore their Sunday Best...Best Ever -that is. It was a new dress, worn only that one time - to church. Oh, sure, it might survive for a few dinners out with the hubby, or a dance or two, but never again would it brighten the inside of a church service. Younger women wore bright colors, girls, spectacular Easter Dresses, little girls paraded around in what can only be called: Little Princess's dresses: much lace, sparkly things, and pastels that were so bright they broke the color wheel. Shoes, I might add...to match.
Even though it was Easter, I always thought of the way the women and girls dressed for Easter Services, as well, like watching Christmas and Spring becoming one event, taking on the form of feminine beauty and grace. The colors were spread amongst the females of the congregation like brightly colored bouquets of exquisite flowers. Oh, and there were many flowers too... worn on their wrists, woven into their hair, or hanging from veils, or even pinned on- as corsages, almost any female over the age of 13 had flowers somewhere. Nobody but Dad could buy Mom- her corsage. Every year it was some sort of spectacular orchid - like a mad geneticist had broken the code of flowers, put forty colors, plus an amazing perfume in them. Lots of little girls carried their flowers...those were usually lilacs, or lilies, or tulips- again more color than you can drink in, even during a magnificent sunset. Rainbows as people.
Easter Sunday Mass, in the Catholic Faith, is a High Mass of the Highest Order. It lasts longer than a Catholic Wedding, if you went to one of those, and weren't brought up in the Faith, well...it was your first brush with eternity. It did give you time to ponder the miracle of rebirth- and the bright colors surrounding you reenforced the message : Life/Rebirth/Hope. The season of death, of suffering, of wilting, of sacrifice...was over. It was Spring, God was back. Flowers were blooming. Young love was everywhere. It was, and is, a new beginning. A chance to rise from your own past, and build a new life, in glorious technicolor. All is forgiven.
The Easter egg hunts were massive community affairs when I was a kid. Thousands of us turned up, never suspecting that just as many adults had been there a few hours earlier, breaking their backs, hiding eggs hither and yon- just so us kids could squeal with delight, and be proud of our finds. They always let the youngest go first, then the first graders...and surprisingly, later, the eighth graders....who were always surprised to see how much fun they had finding the few remaining eggs. Never again would we abandon our grown up status, to squeal with delight. No. Alas, I never, and as far as I know, neither did any of my friends participate in Easter Egg hunts after eighth grade. A pity...really.
Easter Feast, well Lent was over, so every imaginable treat was back on the table...including: Meat. Yep. Meat. I don't know about other Faith's, but we ate only fish during Lent. Meat...well, your mouth watered at the simple thought of bacon, burgers, or steak. Pavlov could have proved his theory in a heartbeat, with the simple message to a Catholic kid: "We have meat, now." Drool, drool, drool. In our home, the meat of choice? Ham. Not just ham, but a ham the size of a modern microwave. Buried in Pineapples with those little cloves stuck in it, and a maple sugar glaze. Drool, drool, drool. Pies, too many to count. Cakes, again, too many to count. For us young ones, soda pops! Thom Thumb sodas in their little bottles, with every flavor but cola. Grape and Orange NeHi, and you only drank the orange flavor when all the grape flavored ones had been taken. I didn't drink colas until I was 12. Then I liked RC Cola, Pepsi, and Coke...in that order. Finally, after the Ham was gone, the pies and cakes, and eggnog...we got Ice Cream. In my family, it was Neapolitan Ice Cream...Mom did not have time to grant everyone their personal favorite ice cream. With three flavors; Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry in one box, pretty much everyone got at least one flavor they liked. By the way, when I was a kid, ice cream was not healthy. It was rich, creamy, and probably should have come with either its own heart doctor, or a Surgeon General's Warning.
I was lucky enough to have a girlfriend at Easter...and if you haven't seen how pretty a young girl is ,who is in love, dressed up for Easter- and decked out in flowers, smelling like Spring itself is, well, you have missed one of the Natural Wonders of the World. Oh it doesn't end there either...for I married my Kathy, and had two little Easter Princesses myself, and many the egg got : colored, hidden, found- and eaten! The flowers, the girls, and the woman, all blooming with life. Watching your wife, become a mother, and then...a grand mother, with a little girl, and a little boy to call her grandchildren- one of not only life's natural wonders, but one of its most sublime miracles. For the Cycle of: Life/Rebirth/Hope- is apparent to you, it surrounds you as the Little Princesses you saw as a child, are replaced by the new set of Little Princesses, who will have to wait, fifty or sixty years to write about Easter's past...in their own lives. The cycle continues.
And that, my friends, was my Easter Past.
Gerald R Gioglio
04/17/2022Good memories, Kevin. Indeed, many are familiar to this Catholic kid. Today, outside church waiting for the 7:30 AM mass to end and to be let in for the 9 AM, I noticed how things have changed culturally. There wasn't a guy in a suit to be found and the ladies were mostly dressed down in their normal Sunday-go-to-meeting best. Right, not an "Easter bonnet" in sight. Still, the main event was the celebration of what happened some 2,000 years ago. An acient ceremony. Still the same, as always.
Happy Easter, bro.
PS: our Lenten meat replacement was Pizza...really, for a kid does it get any better than that?
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Kevin Hughes
04/17/2022Hey Gerald,
That brought back some more memories. All seven of us boys were altar boys. Most we ever had on the altar at one time was three. Everybody wore hats back then Dash and flowers. All the men were in suits including the young boys. I remember my older brothers being dressed in my uncles hand me down suits. Sometimes the sleeves were too long Dash or the color too big. But it didn’t matter. Everybody was dressed up.
And the flowers… They were everywhere. A lot of people took their family portraits at Easter. Because everybody was dressed up. And as solemn as the holiday is it was a glorious day. A happy day.
Smiles, Kevin
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Lillian Kazmierczak
04/17/2022Oh Kevin what a marvelous Easter story! You are not the only one that Easter snuck up on. what a wonderful retelling of Easter! I wish we could have back the days when holidays were so special that everything was closed but gramma's house. I really miss those days.Thank you for sharing your memories, Congratulations on short story star of Easter!
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Lillian Kazmierczak
04/18/2022Peeps were the one thing we never had. Sugar coated marshmallow, ugh! I loved jelly beans especially the licorice ones. you hardly see those any more. Imdid see they had a birthday cake peeps though! Happy Easter, Kevin!
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Kevin Hughes
04/17/2022Happy Easter Lillian, I absolutely love your line: “I wish we could have back the days when holidays were so special that everything was closed by grandma’s house.” That is some good writing.
Remember “peeps”? If you eat those marshmallow sugar confections you had to go see a dentist a week later. Lol
Smiles Kevin
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Shirley Smothers
04/17/2022You just brought back Childhood memories. I never really appreciated the true meaning. Thank you for sharing.
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Kevin Hughes
04/17/2022Thank you Shirley. My wife and I just had a wonderful talk about Easter baskets filled with candy and eggs and these little yellow ducks called “peeps “.
It turns out my wife’s Canadian family did not get Easter baskets. Where we all made them by hand for each other and ourselves.
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Kevin Hughes
04/17/2022A very happy Easter to you JD. And thank you for all your support. I always did like Easter as a celebration of new life and leaving all the old things behind. All is forgiven all is bright fresh and new. Smiles Kevin
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Jane Lockyer Willis
04/21/2019Full of colour and style, your story. yes, i was brought up in the Church of England faith. My father was a splendid vicar and church going for me an obligation. So now, I don't. I thought this morning how good it would be to have a faith; would make life easier on all fronts. But perhaps I am wrong.
Thank you for sharing your story with all of us.
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Kevin Hughes
04/21/2019Jane,
I fully understand where you are coming from. Like you, I abandoned my Faith early- the day I left the Seminary. I am not a fan of any Religion (organized or not) but understand the power of Faith. I saw it carry my Mom through the death of three of her children, two World Wars, and my family sent to Korea and Vietnam- and she lost my Dad after 48 years - and it was her Faith that sustained her.
That hasn't been my path. I cheer folks on - whatever their journey may be, but don't want anyone dictating my path. My wife says (after she left her Faith): "I miss the culture, not the BS rules. " LOL
Smiles, Kevin
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Gail Moore
04/20/2019Great story Kevin. I have very similar memories being brought up a catholic, our pretty little dresses only for church.
One day all the girls had their pretty dresses on and baskets of flower petals ,An Easter parade I think. I vomited over about 5 or 6 of the girls. Chrysanthemums have never been the same. Every time I smell them I remember that day. :-) :-)
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Kevin Hughes
04/20/2019Happy Easter Gail,
Oh dear...what a memory to have. I think there is a story in there- I remember the girls throwing flower petals too! And all of us boys were Altar Boys (one Brother became a Trappist Monk) I went to the Seminary, but then I found out about girls, and that ...was that. LOL
Smiles, Kevin
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JD
04/20/2019I just discovered this one of yours when I was searching for an 'Easter' story, Kevin! Thanks for sharing your memories of Easter's past. Your story and your memories provide the perfect mix of religious and secular and I'll bet a lot of readers will enjoy this one. Happy Easter to you and your family, and may you have many more Happy Easter memories yet to create! :-)
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Kevin Hughes
04/20/2019Happy Easter Julie,
Thanks for that! I think Easter easily slides between the Secular and Religious aspects - perched as it is on the edge of Winter and Spring. Suffering, death, and lack, all forgiven, and the future open colorful and filled with possibility. Happy Easter!
Smiles, Kevin
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