The Barbara Show: mary janes

3/31/13

Oh Happy Day

Happy Easter!
Thank goodness this isn't like Christmas where you have to watch your Happy Holiday/Merry Christmas greeting.( Which I don't any longer) This is straight up Happy Easter.
Is it " He has Risen" versus "WhatdidyougetinyourEasterbasket?"

What I like about this day is you can have both, where you place the importance, is up to you and your decisions.

I have many happy memories of this season. They are probably not what you would expect

late 60's Easter Sunday me, Terry, sister Jackie and Brenda

but they are mine.
I remember my patent leather Mary Jane's and lacy anklets. My new white hat and slip that held my little dress-- out. All the better to twirl in.
One year I had a parasol purse with a drawstring, back in the day/the early 60's when everything was in it's place-----it was the slicked back hair, pin curled, Fried Chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy era. Homemade.

Mike, me, Jackie, Mom & Brenda '59 Donnell Pond

Which gives reason why most women had this etched smiled on their face. That was probably the only way they could keep their eyes open. LOL Try raising a brood of
children, ironing, washing, gardening, canning,...need I go on? :)

My past memories are of the feel good kind. Happy Easter was Happy Easter with dyed eggs thrown in and sugary Peeps and jelly beans a must-have. Parents did all the work
and the kids just helped to clean up -sometimes.
Being a kid then was good times and Holidays of any kind made it better.

I remember my kids all "gussied up" for their own Easters, my son in his new blue suit which he wasn't happy about andmy daughter's curls taking center stage.

I miss my dad's Ham with Raisin gravy, and before you turn your nose up, let me tell you, I hate raisins, but they added such an amazing flavor to the juices from the Ham, a salty sweet taste....He was THE gravy maker at all the family dinners. I could go on and on and stumble

Mike, me Dad, summers day.

from one memory and holiday to another.
I could sit here with intermittent smiles and at the same time have tears streaming down my face. As with most holidays I long for those not with us any longer, fellowshiping of those times, and Gravy.

Happy Easter to you and yours and pass the sugar, please.

Parades

There were parades every Memorial Day, to honor our men that were brave, for the ones that made it back and the ones that didn't. Parades for Labor Day, Halloween, Christmas and just about any other holiday were a big deal in my town. Going to the Park later for a picnic and a swim at the pool was something to be yearned for but is filed safely back in the section of Heartfelt memories. Fried Chicken, Baked Beans, Potato Salad were a part of our treasured times, hearing the carousel and smelling the the cotton candy, and the lines never seem to cease when you're so thirsty for the lime soda at the concession stand, that looks straight out of "Life with Father".
I wake up and my memories are filed and I look out the window and see the litter, the lack of Norman, hear the rude obnoxious base pulsating off my windows and wonder what is so good about all of this. I walk back to the file and I pull it out once again and I 'm reminded of a time when just a parade was passing us by.