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Easter in another Time

christIn the 1920s Easter was not hailed with an abundance of chocolate candy and jelly beans.  “In Florence’s family, the notion of the Easter Bunny was not celebrated on Easter with new clothes or surprises, like many people do today.  On the day before Easter Sunday, each member of her family would organize their own Easter baskets.  They would all color their eggs and put candies in the basket along with sandwiches and luncheon foods.  Because candy wasn’t an everyday occurrence in the early 1900s, it was cherished much more by children than it is now.  In their baskets they would have chocolate rabbits and hard sugar coated candies that were soft in the middle.  After the baskets were prepared, the family didn’t have an Easter Egg hunt with their eggs, instead they would  go out to the foothills in Morgan [Utah] and have a picnic together.  If the weather was bad, they would all go out to the hayloft in their barn and have a picnic out there.  Easter was a time to enjoy their treats, but also a time to enjoy being together as a family during their picnic” (submitted by Myra Durrand, 1993).

Families often gather at Easter for some type of activity.  One family chooses to make their Easter dinner a reminder of Christ.  A special dinner “is something that has been passed down in my family for many generations.  I remember, even as a small child, that Easter dinner was a special one.  My family would be planning it for days in advance.  Then the day would come and my family would gather around the table and read from the Bible about Jesus.  We would light candles and try to make everything (as much as possible) as it was when Jesus was live.  We [ate] food at this meal that we feel Jesus ate when he was alive, to honor him and his memory and to remember what he did for us.  It was a special time of year for us, and we would all look forward to it.  Traditional Easter meal:  fish (usually steamed), unleavened bread (usually bagels), grapes, raw vegetables (carrots, celery, etc.), grape juice” (collected by Gwyn Bevard, 1988).

Another family has a child who passed away.  Each Easter Sunday they gather around the grave and the father reads the account of the resurrection of Christ from the scriptures.  A family prayer is said and the family meditates upon the meaning of the day.  Before they leave they place a lily on the grave.

How does your family celebrate Easter?

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