Thinking back on my childhood, Easter was really something special. We weren’t a family that put on our Sunday best for the Easter Sunday service. Instead, we put our casual clothes on, grabbed a cozy sweatshirt and jumped in the car to head to our family cabin. At the cabin, we were greeted by aunts and uncles, cousins, family dogs, and a lot of land with lush forest and a distant view of the ocean just past the bluffs.
Shortly after arriving to the cabin, the kids and some of the adults would pile into a car while the other adults stayed back. It was just a short drive on Highway 1 to a nearby beach, or at least it felt like it with the buzz of our Easter high in the car. We would pull into the small parking lot, climb out of the car and take off running for the beach. The waves crashed, we drew in the sand in with sticks, buried each other and dug big giant holes in the sand, all while the Easter bunny was busy at work back at the cabin.
Returning back to the property and bouncing in our seats as the car bobbed down the gravel dirt road, we’d start to spot the Easter eggs we had dyed just days before, sitting perfectly in fresh cabbage; on fence posts, tucked in the ferns, at the base of the trees, on giant, old redwood stumps, scattered across the lawn. The Easter magic was everywhere we turned, and even more so the more we hunted.
I have dreamed of the day that I could recreate these cherished memories with children of my own. That time finally came – we bought airline tickets, booked a rental car, and coordinated with family that now also has children of their own. I started to imagine the colored Easter eggs, Pez, chocolate, and other gifts pouring out of my sons Easter basket on Sunday morning.
Until, the world grew eerie and uncertain as travel bans and stay at home orders were issued and we all tucked into the comfort of our homes in hopes of staying safe from the Covid-19 Coronavirus world pandemic. We began to grieve our cancelled trip while all the same counting our blessings for our health, shelter, food, and jobs that allowed us to work from home to provide financial security.
It’s a really bizarre time we are in and it feels heavy, overwhelming and scary. We should have been on a plane yesterday, should have been waking up in my old childhood bedroom this morning and taking Beckett to my favorite beaches for the first time.
We are at home in Washington, where the spring air feels promising and the news feels draining, where we have each other but can’t see others.
Easter may not be what we imagined it would be this year, but we are going to do all that we can to make it special. I know that at the end of the day, our son won’t remember this day but we will. We won’t be able to tell stories about his first Easter at the cabin with his cousins, and show him the Easter bunnies house in an old, hollowed out redwood tree stump. But we will be able to tell him about his first Easter at our first family home, with treats and treasures and loads of love. We will tell him how we were so fortunate to feel safe and to be together while so many people in the world could not say the same.
My parents have sent a few things for B’s Easter basket, I’ve ordered a few things, and I’ve looked around my home for things I already had. It may seem silly to put together a basket for a baby who is only 5 months old, but I’ve spent my entire life dreaming of the holidays with my own kids.
In my 5 month olds Easter basket:
Basket – Target
Jellycat Bashful Bunny – Nordstrom
Jellycat Duck – Amazon
Jellycat ‘Bunny Soother’ Blanket Lovie – Nordstrom
If I Were a Duck Touch and Feel Board Book – Amazon
Bunny Rattle Ecru Linen – bitte
Baby Organic Wooden Bunny Teether – Amazon
Silicone Bead + Wood Ring Teether – bitte
Blue Breakfast Buddies Zippy – Little Sleepies