Happy Easter....

I’m a creature of habit.  I like to eat the same thing everyday no matter what.  For breakfast it is Cheerios with blueberries, for lunch I have yogurt and carrots, then a mid day snack of an egg and cheese sandwich with a banana, and then at dinner I get a little wild making Mac and cheese or pasta and sauce.  Which leads me to my point, every Sunday I make hard-boiled eggs, five every Sunday.  A couple weeks ago I realized Easter was fast approaching and I debated whether to make Easter Eggs. 

When I was a child every Easter my father would help my sister and I dye eggs, nothing fancy just dye them yellow, blue, pink, purple or orange.  Nothing like the kits the kids have today where the dye has sparkles or you can tie-dye the eggs.  They were simple and nothing like the eggs my grandmother would make.

My grandmother’s family came from Eastern Europe; they were Russian Orthodox and had elaborate traditions. One of those traditions was making Easter Eggs.   My grandmother was taught how to make them from her mother who learned it from her mother and I think you know that story.  Her eggs were not as elaborate as Pysanky Eggs but they were beautiful none the same.  Basically she would dye a hard-boiled egg a solid color like blue or pink and then with hot wax she would take a toothpick and carefully create patterns that were similar to Pysanky Eggs. 

Unfortunately none of that was ever passed down to my sister or myself.  When I was young I wanted to learn how she made these elaborate designs but I was only 7 or 8 at the time and my grandmother and mother were not to keen on the idea of me playing with hot wax.  By the time I was old enough my grandmother developed Alzheimer’s and was unable to teach me.

This year I will not be able to spend Easter with my family and for the most part I’m sad that I will not see them but in all honestly I’m not missing anything.  It is not like we go to church together or sit around the kitchen table making Easter Eggs. There are not many traditions in my immediate family.  Yes we get together for every holiday and eat certain foods but that is where it ends.  I guess for my family that is our Easter tradition.  Maybe it is not elaborate as most but for us it works. 

For most Christians, Easter is a time of reflection.  It comes during a time of change not only in the seasons but also in our lives.  I haven’t often reflected about my life where I’ve been or where I’m going until this past week.   It has brought up a lot of painfully memories of training in Cleveland.  However, that was my past and I have the future to looks forward to and the way I see it, it is unlimited as to what I can accomplish.   And the one thing I will accomplish, outside of placing at Worlds this year, will be figuring out how to make my Grandmother’s Easter Eggs and hopefully pass that tradition to my children.

I hope you all have a blessed Easter...