Waiting for the Easter Bunny!


I venture to say Easter took more preparation time than I realized when I was a kid oblivious to all the behind-the-scenes-goings-on out in the country. I'm sure the week before there were phone calls between those four houses in a row concerning recipes and who-was-to-do-what and jelly bean and chocolate bunny buying and shopping for new shoes that went clickety-click on sidewalks. But when your focus is on that Bunny and what he will be leaving in the biggest basket you could hope for, you really don't care who's cooking what or what time the family gathering will take place. The day always turned out perfectly which only strengthened my remaining in a state of oblivion.

Every year the Easter Bunny snuck into our house without me hearing him. My older brother would tell me he saw him but I knew he was fibbing. It didn't matter! I had other things going on like an Easter basket overflowing with bunnies and chicks; jelly beans and eggs; a few bubble gum cigars and a box of Lucky Srike or Pall Mall candy cigarettes-always a big hit! There'd be candy dandies which stuck to my teeth like glue and rolls of candy wafers which I'd trade certain colors for ones preferred. I loved the chocolate ones. So did my brother! Most every year we'd find plastic chickens in our baskets. When you pushed them down they'd lay small plastic eggs! The Easter Bunny always took time to hide jelly beans and chocloate eggs around the house. He even made a jelly bean trail that we'd have to follow to find those baskets. What a great Bunny he was! He knew how to turn every Easter into a fabulous memory.

Breakfast was all the traditional favorites including hot-cross buns with homemade icing served warm with eggs, pancakes and french toast covered with real maple syrup, and bacon plus freshly-squeezed orange juice. A few hours later we were back for a ham dinner with all the trimmings and a few hours after that feast we'd gather to nibble!

I never did catch that Bunny filling my basket. But a few times I caught my father sneaking a chocolate egg from a bag hidden in one of my mother's serving bowls in a kitchen cupboard. I wonder if the Bunny knew he left them behind! Maybe he knew my father had a very sweet tooth!

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