I miss my parents most when holidays come around. Today, on Easter Sunday, I think back on the times I spent celebrating the season with my parents at our farm. It was a little slice of heaven where our family retreated from the hectic life at home. Daddy loved to putter around the acreage fixing fences, mowing, and tinkering. Mother made the farmhouse a precious place to enjoy home-cooked meals and a good night’s sleep after a long day spent outdoors in the sunshine. She’d make plum preserves from the trees in the orchard, and when in season, mustang grape jam.
Easter at the farm was especially fun because it meant the night before we’d gather around the big oak table and dye eggs. Mother made big pots of hard-boiled eggs, and we spent the evening creating masterpieces, with a few brown eggs from dipping them in more than one cup of PAAS egg dye. Sunday morning, we’d wake up to find all our eggs hidden around the living room – the tell-tale sign – bunny prints! I am not sure how Mother came up with this magical idea, but she’d dip her fingers in powdered sugar and create trails for us to follow. Then we’d rummage through our Easter baskets filled with those marshmallow hard-shell eggs, jelly beans, and a chocolate bunny.
After lunch, we’d hide plastic eggs outside in the white-picket-fenced yard under the big pine trees. I recall that it was always cool and breezy since the house sat on a hill overlooking the most beautiful countryside view. You should have seen the brilliant sunsets. Mother loved the country because bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush wildflowers bloomed in mass all over the property.
I’m so grateful to my parents for taking the time to make our holidays together special. I hope you and your family have a blessed Easter.
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
