Through the Years

/ Ann Coleman

I was raised in a family that didn’t have a lot of extra money.  We weren’t poor, but we did have to manage our money carefully.  Our version of going on vacation was piling into our car and driving across country to visit relatives.  We got one new pair of school shoes and tennis shoes each September, which were expected to last for the entire school year, and most of my clothes had first been worn by my older sister.

That’s probably why I have such fond memories of our annual shopping trips to buy our special Easter outfits.  I didn’t just get a fancy new dress–I got new shoes, special socks, a hat and sometimes even a little purse.  The shoes were always white patent-leather, which only looked good until the first scuff mark appeared, and that was usually about five minutes after I put them on.  But I didn’t care, because I thought I looked great.  As far as I was concerned, wearing my new Easter outfit to church was the second best part of Easter.  The best part, of course, was receiving my very own Easter basket full of candy and knowing I didn’t have to share any of it.

Now I’m all grown up, and honestly can’t remember the last time I looked in the mirror and truly thought I looked great.  I also haven’t bought a special Easter outfit in years, either for myself or for my own children.   I still have my old Easter basket, but it’s tucked away in a storage bin with my other memorabilia.  The purple wicker has faded to the palest of lilacs, and a really heavy chocolate Easter bunny would probably break it in two.

But that’s okay, because I enjoy Easter now just as much as I ever did.  It doesn’t matter that I won’t wear a brand-new outfit to church, or that I’m the one who has to clean the house and fix the food for our immediate family’s Easter lunch.  I’ll gladly hide the eggs for my grandchildren to find and spend a couple of hours making my mother’s home-made potato salad.  (It’s labor-intensive, but the results are worth it.)

One thing I’ve learned about the holidays I’ve celebrated all my life is that the way I celebrate may change, but the important thing is that I still celebrate.  Participating in meaningful rituals and traditions, gathering with the people I love, and in general, just being grateful for actually experiencing another new holiday is what really matters.  And why we never really outgrow the holidays we love.

81 thoughts on “Through the Years”

  1. As a child, holidays were always spent with grandparents, though I used to be sent on the train on my own, in charge of the guard, to be collected by an aunt at the other end.
    No new clothes for Easter, though as father frowned on the idea so off to church just neat and tidy among all the other girls in their new finery.
    In the days when Leo was well enough for company we used to have the tribe from Belgium visit us and I loved the cooking and planning. So many good memories. These days we are on our own physically, though in touch with friends and family via the internet, but we still have our own quiet celebrations when it pleases us so to do and in memory of happy times in France I am going to make the Easter tart – which would disappear in instants when we had company, but between two will make a nice hot lunch and a cold supper the day afterward.
    How right you are about it doesn’t matter how you celebrate, but celebrate you should!

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    • I’m glad you have those memories of extended family coming to visit, and even the trips to see your grandparents. I’m especially glad you and Leo are going to enjoy an Easter tart this year! We may have to change our celebrations to fit the circumstances, but we can still celebrate!

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  2. that’s just it celebrating with those we love! That’s what these spiritual holidays are about, reflecting on their meaning and spending time with loved ones 🙂

    May your faded basket be filled with many little light eggs; may your house ring with laughter as the grandies search for the choc stash; may you remember that you are always beautiful within 🙂

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  4. A beautiful post Ann. Its not what you have, it is what you appreciate that makes life special. As you have likely found as you get older, Christmas, Birthdays and Easter are no longer about the stuff. They are about the memories and experiences of time shared with those you love. That potato salad sounds awesome. Keep on celebrating. Allan

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  5. Easter brings so many memories! I love the photo you included as it makes me remember colouring eggs as a child. I’ve continued the tradition with our grandchildren. It’s a bit messy but so much fun to watch them admire the eggs as the colours deepen in the cups of dye. Unfortunately, nobody in the family loves eating those hardboiled eggs when some of the dye has seeped into the egg white! Enjoy your Easter holiday and celebration with your family!

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    • We had so much fun decorating eggs when I was a kid, and then later, when my son and daughter were young. Even when it’s just my husband and I, we still dye them…somehow, it’s not Easter until we do. And we have the same problem…no one wants to eat egg salad made out of colorful eggs! Happy Easter!

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  6. I remember those Easter dressses — and sometimes even an Easter ‘bonnet’ — with great affection. They always were a pastel color, with gloves, shoes, and purse all designed to coordinate. Today, things are more casual, but still fun. On the othe hand, the flowers, the sweets, and the baskets still are important. Dyeing eggs and hiding them, biting the ears off a chocolate bunny, or making an egg tree all help to embody the meaning of the day. After all, if Easter was only about adopting a few nice principles, none of those ’embodiments’ would be needed at all!

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    • Yes, Easter was the only time when I got a new complete “outfit.” (Looking back on it, I strongly suspect my grandmother paid for these.) That made it all the more special. When my own son and daughter were little, I made sure they had something nice to wear, but didn’t bother with the hats, gloves, etc. And you’re right about all the traditions embodying the meaning of the day. Happy Easter!

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  7. Lovely memories and musings Ann. I have so many happy memories of Easter, both as a child growing up and as a parent. So grateful for these with both my parents now gone and my children grown up. But one thing never changes, the love and gratitude for everything and everyone that’s brought me to where I am today. May your home always be filled with blessings and love (and of course a bit of chocolate!) Best wishes my friend. xx

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    • Thanks, Miriam! Hold those memories dear, they are priceless. And you’re right, no matter how our situations or families change, we have the gift of all that came before…. Happy Easter to you and yours!!!

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  8. Funny all this is literally in reverse. Parents did well and we always had our nice eater dresses and so on… Its now that is a struggle and havent been able to do anything like my parents. But we still make it work and have nice holidays.

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    • With the economy the way it is, I think a lot of people are experiencing that, and it’s hard. I’m glad you’re able to cope with it and have nice holidays, though! I think as long as we’re with people we love, we can have great holiday celebrations. I didn’t buy our kids entire Easter outfits when they were little, just made sure they had something nice to wear and an Easter basket. They were happy with that!

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  14. Love this post. We were in the same sort of money boat- one pair of shoes for most of the school year. I remember getting my first pair of Nike tennis shoes! I thought I was so uptown!! Ha ha. Love that you hide eggs and have a meal.

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    • I like to think that being raised that way helps us appreciate what we have more, you know? I still don’t have tons of shoes, but when I look in my closest and see several pairs lined up, I’m sort of impressed!

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      • Oh my gosh! Exactly!!! I went the longest time with only one pair and I’d wear them until they fell apart, then I’d get another pair- even when I grew up. My momma knew this, so for my birthday, she’d get me slippers or a pair of boots. ❤️

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  15. Thanks for your insight about celebrating holidays. As I’ve gotten older, Easter no longer means what it did, but I still gather my immediate family for a celebration that means more to me than to them.

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    • I’m glad you still gather your immediate family! Even if it’s not as meaningful to them, I’d be willing to bet that they’ll look back on those celebrations fondly. I’m not a fan of the over-used term, “making memories,” but in this case, I think it fits!

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  17. I know you will have a lovely Easter…You put your heart into everything that you do and it shows!!! I wish you Easter blessings and much joy as you gather and celebrate with your family. We are so blessed…”Christ has Risen! He has risen indeed!” (Luke; 24:33)

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  18. Good point about how it’s not the ways in which you celebrate, it’s the fact that you do celebrate. I need to remember that. Happy Easter… no matter what you find yourself wearing.

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    • Yes, the types of celebrations do change over the years, but I think just being able to celebrate is a real gift. If something gives us joy, then we need to keep that in our lives!

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  19. Great memories and perspectives to share. Times were different during our youth. Your parents’ buying habits were similar to mine. Living during the Depression surely influenced them. I like your concluding paragraph. Being in our church’s handbell choir, it’s a busy & big weekend for us because we are premiering a piece the players commissioned for our conductor. Yep – a World Premier 🙂 …. the composer can’t sell it to others until May 1st. It’s not backbreakingly hard – but a nice piece. Happy Easter!

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    • That’s really impressive that you’re playing an original paced that was commixed for your conductor! I’ve always admired those who can play the bells, but sadly, I’m not one of them. I hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter!

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  21. I remember the Easter dresses, gloves, and hats. My brothers always had a jacket and tie. I have a feeling those were passed around the extended family. One year before my girls were “aware”, I dressed them in fluffy dresses, hats, and gloves. By the following year, they figured out that was not the current style.

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    • Yes, once they get old enough to have an opinion on their clothes, things do change. My Easter outfits got considerably less fancy as I grew older, and the first thing that went were the white patent leather shoes. But I still got a new dress each year for Easter, and honestly, I like that!

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  24. I so enjoyed reading about your memories, Ann. Even though I’m Jewish and celebrating a different holiday (Passover), I can easily relate to what you wrote. I also remember tearing my white tights only minutes after putting them on. Times with my parents are blurry, but those memories all bring a smile to my face. Thank you for triggering such nostalgia with your beautiful writing. And I’m wishing you a wonderful Easter holiday with your loved ones!

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    • Thanks, Judy! I hope you have a wonderful and meaningful Passover! Isn’t it fun remembering the holidays we celebrated as children? And I’d forgotten about those dreaded white tights we had to wear in colder weather. They never kept our legs warm, and the crotch never went past our mid-thighs, but our moms made us wear them!!

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      • Your words made me laugh, Ann. Synchronicity with white tights. Yes! They were so uncomfortable and when they ran, I had fun making “the run” much worse lol!

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  25. Y’know, you could still get yourself a new outfit & a little basket of light treats!
    Sounds like you’ve got a great easter gathering going on…Happy Spring to you and yours, and especially Finn!

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  28. My Easter memories from childhood are filled with new shoes, stiff starchy shirts and a crisp new suit, all of which I couldn’t wait to get home and take it all off. But, I guess it pleased my mom. Happy Easter to you and yours.

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  29. You lost me at tennis shoes. Hon, if you’re getting new tennis shoes every year, you ain’t nowhere near poor or suffering in any way. My early Easter memories was going with my mother to see her own father (my grandfather) and begging him to give her money so that she could buy my sister, brother and me Easter clothes. Maybe she got $100 out of him. The dresses she bought us were lovely BUT they hurt. Made me so uncomfortable because the material was cheap and scratchy. I haven’t dressed up for Easter ever since. I usually get very sad around Easter time because it’s difficult to read or watch movies of how Christ was crucified. ‘Killing Jesus’ showing Jesus up on the cross, speared and dripping with blood and how He was so tortured and abused is still difficult to remember, feel or even visualize. But it reminds us that Jesus lived to die, for us, so that we may be saved and go to Heaven. It’s an astounding story and one that never ceases to amaze me. Have a very Blessed Easter. God bless you.

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  30. What lovely memories, Ann. Thank you for reminding me of my own. I loved getting a new dress and shoes for Easter and waking up to my own basket filled with jelly beans, puffed bunnies, and chocolate eggs. There were five children in my family, so it was a treat to have our own as well. Then, to repeat the tradition of coloring eggs, hiding them, and creating special baskets for my own kids was a lot of fun. I wish you lots of joy with your grandchildren this Easter and hope you have a blessed day!

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    • Thank you, Brenda! And I agree, it’s so much fun to carry on the traditions of our childhoods with our own kids, and then (if we’re lucky and we live long enough) our own grandchildren too. My grandson helped me make Easter cookies this year, and he was so proud! Happy Easter!!

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  31. This is such a lovely post, Ann. I’m so glad you have so many happy memories of past and present Easter Holidays. My childhood Easters were a struggle for my Mum financially. My father kept us short, so there was little to spare. However, Mum always somehow managed to buy us four children small Easter eggs every year. I was so grateful for them then and am even more so these days, knowing how difficult it must have been for her. My sisters and I pooled our pocket money to buy Mum a plain chocolate Easter egg, as she never liked milk chocolate. I believe all we could get back then was Black Magic, or later, Terry’s All Gold. I have happy memories of hunting eggs, even though they were the tiniest sugar eggs you could imagine.

    Not really having a religion meant we didn’t go to church, so there was no need to dress up. I can’t ever remember being disappointed by not having an occasion to get dressed up for. Nowadays, I spend Easter alone, although I usually see my son and the children at some point during the school holidays. It simply doesn’t both me anymore. I just love the fact that I get to see my grandchildren at some point over the holidays; it doesn’t have to be only on Easter weekend.

    My birth religion is Jewish, although my parents never practised their faith; however, my Mum made the most delicious Passover biscuits, coconut pyramids, almond biscuits, cinnamon balls etc. All exceedingly yummy. Wishing you and your family a lovely Easter and many more happy Easters to follow. X

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    • Thanks so much, Ellie! I can see how you’d appreciate your mother’s effort to buy you and your siblings Easter eggs even more, knowing how hard it was for her to provide that. When someone works hard to give us something, it’s much more meaningful, isn’t it? Plus, those Passover dishes sound very tasty….my cousin and her children are Jewish, and she prepares a lovely Passover meal every year. And I agree, the important thing is to see our families at some point around the holidays, it doesn’t have to be on the holiday itself. Just getting to spend time with them is the biggest gift we could have! Thanks again for your sweet comment…you are a great blogging friend!

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  34. Ann you hit the nail on the head with your conclusion that it isn’t the trappings and commercialization but the gathering of family and the celebration (tradition and meaning)! Happy Easter to you and yours!!

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  36. I always looked forward to the chocolate eggs at this time of year. And I don’t eat those anymore. I loved this conclusion, Ann: “One thing I’ve learned about the holidays I’ve celebrated all my life is that the way I celebrate may change, but the important thing is that I still celebrate.” Perfect.

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  37. Getting Easter candy and having something pretty to wear for Easter is a lovely way for a little child to learn about how special Easter is and it’s really nice that you had that growing up. Sometimes, we need to be happy and contented in order to absorb the deeper spiritual meaning of a celebration. Those things mean less for us now because we have found other treasures – children and grandchildren – and being able to celebrate with them on Easter is a joy that pierces the heart. This Easter, I wore a blouse that was new but which wasn’t exactly flattering for me (I’m still cringing a little over the photos; the only reason I bought it was because it was comfortable). But the enduring feeling I had travelling home from our Easter family reunion was one of joy and contentment that it had been such a beautiful weekend with those we love the most. It’s the kind of joy that makes the little niggles like an not-too-pretty blouse tiny and unimportant.

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    • That’s so true! You’ll forget what you wore in no time (and I bet that blouse looked nicer than you thought it did), but the memories of being with your family over Easter weekend will stay with you. Our grandson got to come to church with us this year, and that made it extra nice….he’s already beginning to realize just how special Easter is!

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  39. Hi Ann – I’m reading this a little late, but I smiled at your description of your Easter outfits. We also got special outfits to wear to church on Easter Sunday. Remember the ankle socks with the lace trim? I enjoyed reading about your traditions and yes, holidays hold special meanings no matter how old we get, and they don’t mean you have to have something new to celebrate. Take care!

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