”EASY-TER” - No Hang-ups

You know many holidays come with a lot of baggage. Halloween’s got the candy, strobe lights, and the fog. To do it right, you have to hang a lot of spider webs, sheets as ghosts, and strings of orange lights. Christmas too requires tons of effort. First the tree, ornaments, static-laden icicles, wreaths, and then again MORE lights? All holidays must be better with lights and lots of 'hangy' things right? Nope, Easter is one of those special celebrations that is fairly simple and easy to enjoy without all of the ‘hang-ups’ of the ‘in your face’ holidays.

Yes, the Madison Avenue ‘marketeers’ have tried to ‘glam’ up Easter to be more commercial but it has never caught on in the same way as some of the other holidays. The kids still get to color the eggs and of course a pastel basket of fun goodies is part of the Easter landscape. My Aunt and Uncle do their share by putting on an amazing Easter egg hunt annually for mostly kids they don’t even know. They’ll spend a week filling eggs with their friends for no other reason than to spread their own brand of JOY. Easter is THAT kind of softer, warmer, and overall peaceful holiday, and that’s the way we like it.

Of course the Ten Commandments movie produced close to 55 years ago is still a staple for Easter weekend. Who can ever REALLY get tired of Moses literally cutting a swath with that walking staff of his? There are just some movies like that which define a season. I always have to see ‘The Music Man’ on July 4th and how could Christmas ever proceed if I were to miss “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and the “Grinch that stole Christmas”? In fact, I was so ‘un-cool’ in 7th grade that I had to excuse myself from a boy/girl dance and live band – JUST so I could get home to see Clarice tell Rudolph he’s “Cute”. Thank heaven now for VCR’s and DVD’s – no more embarrassing disappearing acts from dinner parties.

So take it easy today and stuff your face with the ham and turkey feasts. The diets are off limits so even splurge on that second piece of pie or ask your kid ‘WWJD’ to your ‘loan’ request for a ‘pack of yellow PEEPS’ (who can eat just one?). Kick the Keds off and put your feet up, but please make sure Mom gets a turn too. This ‘Easy-ter’ is the day for EVERYONE to lose the hang-ups and loosen the pants. I sincerely wish you all the most peaceful, relaxing, and baggage-free celebration of the year. After all, this is THE holiday that has had a couple thousand years of practice and tradition to get it right. - HAPPY EASTER!