Easter

This was the first Easter since the worst day of our lives.  Grammie was always the one who planned our holidays and birthday parties.  Family was something that was very important to her and getting together was just as important to her.  She and Grandpa were the ones who hosted most of our family get togethers since I could remember.  The stopped doing a lot of them around 2013.  They just ran out of energy to put them together.  I offered to help and we started having them at our house, Kevin and Karla's and occasionally at Grandma Karen's house.  A few years ago, we started having Thanksgiving and Easter at Kevin and Karla's house and they let us know when they couldn't so we hosted it.

Last year Kevin and Karla couldn't host it because they didn't feel good during the week and couldn't get ready in time.  I told everyone that Ben and I would host it.  I am a traditionalist and I didn't like change very much especially for holidays.  My happiest memories were all of us celebrating a holiday/birthday at Grammie and Grandpa's house.  I asked Grammie and Grandpa if I could help them with the Easter baskets because I wanted things to be like they used it be.  I really hated that things were changing, people were getting older, we worried a lot about the future and what it would hold.  I really wanted to go back to how things were but I knew that is something that would never happen.  I felt bad when I found out what lengths Grammie and Grandpa had to do to get the Easter baskets ready especially when they didn't feel good.  I even offered to do it for them.

This year Kevin and Karla planned on having it at their house.  They were going to buy baskets  and the items for the baskets.  Mom bought some plastic eggs and some candy to put in the eggs.  I bought some bubbles and some candy.  I used to be excited for holidays but every holiday since August 24, 2018 just reminds us of what we lost that day.  I struggle with this every day sometimes multiple times a day.

We went to their house around 2 and Karla had spent most of the morning getting food ready.  Everyone showed up except for Tracy and Ben.  She had been recovering from getting sick and she told us she was sorry she couldn't come.  We said we would see her at the next gathering.  Ben went to an Easter gathering with his family in Puyallup.  We ate ham, chicken, veggies, salad and mashed potatoes.  Mom made her sugar cookies.

Kevin and Karla went outside and hid all the Easter eggs and baskets.  When it was time we went out there and found the eggs and baskets.  We had a hard time finding the last few of the eggs but we managed to finally find them all.

We played with bubbles afterwards.  Bubbles were always Grammie's favorite.  We've had several occasions where Grammie brought out the bubbles.  We've had bubble guns, giant bubbles we made out of a string and dish soap and the cheap ones that come in the colored containers with the wands.  The wind was blowing slightly so there were a lot of bubbles everywhere!  We celebrated Doug and the spring birthdays, which was everyone from January to April.

Around 5ish, we all had to get home and get ready for the work week.  We thanked Kevin and Karla for hosting, the food and the Easter stuff and headed home.  It was different from all the other Easters I remembered before this year.  You could see really no one had the same enthusiasm as years past...almost a different demeanor than we're used to seeing.  It was hard to smile when you knew everyone was still recovering.

Happy Easter!

Next Adventure:  The Process of Moving