Easter Dinner

 I have always felt that Easter is a very dignified holiday.  Christmas has become so commercial and so hectic that my goal is just to get through it with no major disasters.  Thanksgiving has become more about the shopping than being thankful.   Unless, of course, you are being thankful for finding a parking place or the perfect bargain.  Halloween has always been crazy.  Easter, on the other hand, has a more decorous and thoughtful time about it.  It has always been a special time for us with church services, family and friends. 

It was a tradition that we have a big Easter dinner after church with all the aunts, uncles and cousins.  Sometimes it meant that I had to get up at the crack of dawn to get dinner started before leaving for Sunday School and church.  Then after church it was hectic trying to finish up everything and get it on the table before the kids started chewing on the table legs.  After dinner we would have an Easter egg hunt in the yard for the kids (while the dads slept dinner off scattered around the house on various beds, couches and chairs.)

Time passed.  The kids grew up and married and moved away or started their own traditions with new families.  The grandparents are no longer with us and the aunts and uncles are now grandparents attending Easter dinner with their kids.  Some years we tried just having a cook-out, but somehow it wasn't the same. Our grandkids were mostly small and we just didn't do as much and the tradition faded away.

Then my son came to me this year with a request.  He wanted to have our old traditional Easter dinner.  So for the past few days I have been digging out the linens and napkins.  Polishing the silver and getting out all the china and serving pieces.  I firmly believe that children need to be taught to appreciate and understand dressing up and using your best manners.  So our Easter dinners have always meant getting out the best and setting the table in the dining room.  Yes, we have had a few disasters.  There was the year my nephew tried to blow out the candles with a mouth full of mashed potatoes. There have been spills and stains but all in all it has been worth it. 

I wondered sometimes if it was worth all the trouble.  The cooking, cleaning, decorating and especially digging everything out and putting it up.  However, when I see the table set with mother's sterling flatware, my good china,  grandmother's candlesticks, and the table centerpiece with the carefully decorated blown eggshells that the kids made all those years ago, I know it is worth the work.  But it's when your children tell you that it is one of their favorite memories, that you know it is definitely worth it.

So I'll get back to work making sure everything is perfect for tomorrow.  I just hope no one starts a food fight.