Easter

When my DDs were wee babes, I always said that I wanted Easter when they acquired significant others. They could spend Christmas with that family and Easter with me. Of course, I never really imagined that they wouldn't choose to be with us for Christmas anyway, but in this instance they listened to me. Go figure!
But seriously, Easter is the bigger holiday for me. I have always liked Easter. Even before I understood Easter. Easter meant church and special music and listening to dad sing in the choir. And when I was a teenager, it meant 3 services every Easter morn! And I loved it.
When I was young, my mother made us Easter dresses (there are 4 girls in the family and I the eldest). I remember one year she made us all dresses of yellow water silk. I liked that we were all dressed alike. Years later I learned 2 things about those dresses. First they were made from one of my mothers prom dress (must have had a HUGE skirt!) and Second that my youngest sister hated the dresses...turned out she got to wear them for a number of years as they were passed down. :D
New dresses...white gloves, new shoes and some years we even had hats! And yet I understood the trappings were secondary. We hid eggs and had baskets (I'm still using mine!) and we had family. This wasn't the overwhelming family of Christmas when the numbers were sometimes beyond counting, but a more personal family that often meant JUST the immediate people. I loved it. After church and the egg hunt, we had a great meal and then we played games, Flinch, Liverpool Rum, Boggle...all of us. I loved that too.
Then as a teen I learned to make pysanky, the Ukranian eggs that require repeated baths in different color dyes to create beautiful works of art. Now every year, starting on Ash Wednesday, we make pysanky.
We have picked up a few other traditions along the way. Pashka from a recipe that I found in a newspaper years ago. This is a low-fat version of the Russian treat that is made with yogurt and the family loves it. Romanian Almond bread, Greek trinity bread, Easter meat from a recipe my mother-in-law remembered from her childhood and always boiled eggs - red Greek ones, warm brown ones made with onion skins and of course, the colored eggs of my childhood. We have done as many as 3 dozen for the 6 or 8 of us that may be here! :D
I love Easter and I love the reason for the season! Thank you, Jesus.

Evelina

Last week I lost someone who was a major influence in my life. She wasn't someone I talked to often, nor someone I even thought about a lot. But she was the person who helped me become who I am today.
Her name was Evelina Smith and when I first met her she was a 30 something black woman who wore outrageous wigs. BIG wigs. She had just been hired as the librarian at the local branch campus of a major university. She hired me as student librarian on the work-study program. She also befriended me. We didn't have heart-to-heart talks or anything like that. But she did give advice when needed (and only if she thought you were ready to hear it). I had worked as a student librarian in high school (with another fabulous woman, but more on her another time) and had actually acquired quite a bit of library skills. Evelina saw that and suggested I become a librarian. I didn't want to, so I took a theater degree instead.
Then when my fiance also planned a theater degree and we realized that one of us needed a job that would feed and clothe us, I talked with her again. She still thought I would make a good librarian and she wrote letters to that effect to get me into grad school. I applied to my alma mater and to hers. Mine turned me down...something about my GPA not being high enough. Missed by .02, and even though I did my BFA in 3 years while working nearly full time, they just plain did not want me! The same day they gave me the final rejection, I got my acceptance to her alma mater - which had a MUCH better rating in the library world than mine. I went on to graduate with a 4.0 and worked as a librarian for 20+ years.
Evelina was delighted. Unfortunately, we had a falling out. I had joined Weight Watchers and lost quite a bit of weight, when she mentioned how good I looked, I suggested she could join me. She was greatly offended, she didn't think she needed that. We didn't speak for too long. I felt bad, but didn't know how to right the situation. I was too young. Now I know the answer was to just say 'I'm sorry' and keeping on talking. But then I didn't understand.
Eventually we did talk, though never about the weight thing. She did meet my children, who remember her fondly, and always she adored my husband.
What I remember most about her was her generousity. She helped people. When someone needed a job, she helped them find it. She encouraged talent where she found it. She loved plants and made her library into a jungle (in fact my youngest was so disappointed when she arrived at college to find the plants gone, since Evelina had retired) She wore a ring on every finger and necklaces in multiples. I remember her showing off a beautiful emerald ring and someone asking who got it for her. She said she bought it for herself and a person should be prepared to buy things for themselves and not wait to be given something.
In memory of Evelina, I bought myself a gold bracelet. Much more than I usually would spend on myself, but a girl should be prepared to buy herself something nice once in a while - just for her! Thank you for everything, Evelina. The world is sadder for your passing.