Easter Sunday

At sunrise, lilies, magnolias, kalanchoe, daisies and more in the altar area, orchids on Moms in the congregation. Little girls in pastels swish and twirl their skirts and click down the hall in 'high' heels. Little boys squirm in neckties and suit coats, at least until they walk out of church. A choir of children and adults fill the air with song and tears of joy mixed with memories. The trumpet accompanies the old favorites: "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and "Because He Lives". Tone chime players concentrate on every note, the smallest playing the largest chime with an emphatic down beat. The Men's Club is cooking the pancakes with the tell-tale smoke filling the hallways. A special performance by the wee ones on a stage, flanked by a huge rainbow of hand prints, using this opportunity to show their Easter finery, sisters in matching dresses, singing at the top of their lungs, using the hand-motions to help tell the story.

Families gather for lunch, bringing special dishes, filling plates and stomachs. Cloudy skies don't halt the hunt for eggs. Windy conditions help to brush confetti from hair and clothes, broken shells decorate the concrete. Decorated plastic eggs are tossed aside as contents are emptied into baskets in search of the 'prize'. More confetti sticks in wind-blown hair, on little sweaty hands and in hidden places to be discovered later, probably for quite a time to come. The dogs join in the fun with a coat of bright-colored bits of paper, not seeming to mind.

A peaceful drive home as bluebonnets and Indian paint brushes line the highway and the sun begins to set, just peeking through the clouds. Humidity + wind = tangled tousled curls.