A Kick-Booty Easter (that's for you, Jesus)

I love Easter. I love waking up early with a bubbly feeling inside my belly because today is special, and tiptoeing into Elise’s room to wake her up, (she’s a little grumpy) and together we wake up Jessa, (she’s way too sleepy, so we let her be), and then traipsing down the stairs. Everything looks the same. But somewhere out there is my yellow wicker Easter basket, filled with eggs holding chocolate carrots and jelly-beans, pretty bracelets, and something funkier, like a glimmery mermaid comb. All I have to do now is find it.

But I’m not six anymore. (Actually, I did this all the way up to 17). And my mom can’t fly to Vermont to hide my Easter basket in the French House, or curl my hair into ringlets for church. I can’t eat my dad’s tasty rack of lamb and strawberry salad, nor play board games with the Grimes and croquet in the yard.

The weird thing about getting older is that I still miss the holiday traditions from my childhood, and reenacting them on my own out here obviously feels different, since the most important ingredient – the family – is missing. But I’ve figured out these past few years ways to keep holidays happy and meaningful at college.

1) Spend it with friends. Friends are my family out here. And they’ve probably felt the same nostalgic confusion when they faced their first father-less Thanksgiving or bubby-less Passover. 2) Pull in your favorite customs, throw in your roomies’ original twist, and don’t be afraid to revise things. That’s how you end up making your own traditions anyway, when you start a new family. 3) Call your parents. Tell them you love them.

4) Without wanting to sound preachy – it is nice to take the holiday’s message to heart. Easter is about joy, rebirth and salvation. With the school year coming to a close and spring weather seriously just around the corner, (it better be), try to have dinner with someone you thought was dead (or just buried in the library for three days), salvage your  poor grade in Botany class, and do something cheerful for the sake of good fun.

I went to mass this morning with my friend Brittany at St. Mary’s on the corner. Besides the regular townies, all dressed up in light dresses, ties, and cute crying babies on their shoulders, many college kids showed up, some with parents that must have driven pretty far and pretty early for family time. Afterward we met up with more friends, hunted for chocolate peanut-butter eggs in the damp backyard, and then headed off to Storm Café for brunch. Mmmm mmm delicious. And now as I write this I’m eating dark chocolate eggs and thinking about what a great day this is.