It's almost Easter!
Jessica Hall
It's Easter weekend, and I'm planning a big family gathering. Simple, but filled with food, laughter, family, and hopefully some memories made. I’ve always loved Easter. It’s one of those holidays where we naturally end up together, with egg hunts woven into the day and everyone settling into their usual roles.
The kids' baskets have become less of a priority over the years, and the meal planning has taken the focus, with everyone making sure their favorite dish is included and it somehow always ends up being a buffet of desserts. I'm in charge of making the iconic lamb cake with artistic care. Dad handles the deviled eggs, and Addie always requests the strawberry and walnut salad, and well, it just wouldn't be Easter without a big old ham to top it off!
But my favorite part, every year, is gathering as a family.
A few years ago, at a talk I was doing at James Madison University, I met the sweetest retiree in the crowd, Ms. Sandra Dutemple, and we hit it off! Before long, I was visiting her regularly at her assisted living home nearby, and over time, she became part of our holiday traditions. We’ve come to adopt her as our own Grandma Dutie.
It makes me so happy to share meals at the holidays and make “family” look our own, welcoming way. The kids get so excited to have family (both blood-family and chosen-family!) come over, and the house is full with the wafting scent of a well-prepared meal in the kitchen. The kids are burning off energy with easter egg hunts as we set the table, catching up on adult conversation is always a flurry of chaos in the most delightful way.
And grounded at the center of all of it, I fill the house with flowers. Fresh tulips, the first ranunculus, some of the abundance of the anenomes. I let the spring outdoors spill inside my home so it feels like a connected canvas. One shared space. My home all of a sudden feels so much bigger. Like an indoor picnic. Just the way I like my Easter Sundays to feel. Surrounded by my family, friends, and flowers.
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P.S. If you have never seen a lamb cake before, they are more well-known for being an epic fail than they are for being a successful addition to your dinner table. Here are some of the internet's best fails of easter lamb cakes if you need a good laugh today!
1 comment
I worked with and loved Sandra Dutemple when she was a part of an organization of middle and high schoolers that was organized by the Arlington Chapter of the American Red Cross. I agree with you in every detail of your story about Sandy, as we called her back then. We were a multi-racial Junior Red Cross community, quite an anomaly in the late 50’s in the state of Virginia. Our chapter of the Red Cross was very interested in youth leadership development in that era and Sandy and I were nominated by our schools to join this effort. She became the leader because of her welcoming personality, her confidence and her smile. She welcomed everyone to the table , including the representatives from the segregated black schools at a time when such a gathering was probably less than legal. The Red Cross had such groups all over the country because we gathered with them frequently over our years of service as teenagers…all of us together in hotels and meeting rooms and national Red Cross conventions. I have been lookng for someone to validate my memories of these meetings…Names of most of the members have left my brain but I sure would love connect with Sandy. I think we were part of something very wonderful that needs to be highlighted as we struggle again with racial equality. Side note…one of our nine children (gr8est9) went to JMU and became a Middle School teacher herein Arlington. Please help me find Sandy. We are both getting old!!!