Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter to you all.
This is a nice weekend coming up because it is all about family.
After Easter services on Sunday morning, which I know EVERYONE will attend, the day is mostly about being with your family in the afternoon. It’s almost like a second Thanksgiving, isn’t it? I know my mother always made it a big deal to cook an “Easter dinner” and my wife has enjoyed a similar tradition most years.
Unfortunately, I’ll be the bachelor this weekend since my wife got on a plane Wednesday and headed to Oklahoma City—her new second favorite place in the world to be—where our son Michael and daughter-in-law Lauren were anxiously awaiting her. So she will be there on Easter and I’m left here to fend for myself.
OK, after 40 years of marriage I fend for myself just fine, as does my wife when I am gone. But one thing that will be clear this Easter Sunday is that the grandkids are counting on “Papa” to make sure the day will be a good one.
Trust me folks, the pressure is on.
My wife has become this special person to the family, and by that I mean kids, grandkids, sisters, son-in-laws, daughter-in-laws, parents—you name it. And I don’t mind her too bad either.
She is the “go to person” for so many in our family when they have problems. She and I actually agree that part of her “job” now that the kids are grown and she isn’t homeschooling them anymore is that she is the person who many in the family come to for advice, support, a good hug, lots of love and mostly listening. Yes, she is a great listener and that might be the best compliment any of us could get.
Recently she was on the phone, sitting on our bed, listening to a relative and I was walking by, noting she was “working” again. I went to my office and made up a big sign with colored markers and handed it to her while she was talking. I wrote her name at the top, then said, “Counselor to ALL!” I guess even she got a kick out of it because I saw she saved it.
OK, so enough about that—this is about my challenge on Easter!
When several of the grandkids heard that “Grammy” was going to be gone on Easter they were very unhappy and clearly told her “it won’t be fun without you here because you make Easter fun.” So now I know the pressure is on me and I’ve got to make it a fun-filled afternoon for them.
I have usually handled one aspect of Easter and that is to hide all the Easter eggs which I will do in some kind of special, elaborate fashion. I will probably sneak some extra money eggs onto the field, and maybe even have a couple of especially good ones.
Otherwise, I do a pretty good job of playing with the kids when I have free time so I’ll plan some outside games. Thankfully we live near a Catholic Church in Slidell that has great outdoor fields and a basketball court and they have always been very welcoming when they see me out there with my grandkids, even though I am not Catholic.
For that matter I have come to appreciate the Catholic churches since I live close enough to get an idea of what goes on. Man, these folks do a lot to offer family friendly functions for their church members or guests and I must say I am impressed with how hard so many of these adult volunteers are trying to create a wonderful environment for families. You just can’t beat that.
But ultimately my grandkids love the Easter egg hunt so I will probably focus on something very special to surprise the kids. Thank goodness there is always the Internet. I may be 61 years old but I certainly can use the “Google Search” with the best of them. I love the fact that you can search any topic in the world and the Internet will provide a million responses to almost anything.
So this Sunday I plan to look for “special Easter games,” or “unique Easter egg hunt ideas.” In the meantime maybe some of you folks can help me out. I mean remember, the pressure is on me since “Grammy will be gone!”
If you read this a day or two before Easter and have a special family tradition to make the day extra fun I would love to hear about it. E-mail me at the address at the end of this column and give me some ideas. I’ll be glad to give you some public attention in this space for the best ideas.
In the meantime, Happy Easter to all and let’s continue to keep in mind that the holiday isn’t just about the egg hunt. Praise to our Lord for the incredible blessings he has given us all. Despite the ups-and-downs life brings us all, we live in a great country and great parish—so give thanks.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.