Easter is celebrated differently around the world. Italy has fireworks, Finland has costumes, New Zealand has a rabbit hunting event and Antigua has the streets covered with colourful carpets. Some families go to church and others participate in lent. Some families have large celebrations and others have small get-togethers.
Although Easter represents the resurrection of Jesus in Christianity, it can represent many other things for different families. For some, it can represent the beginning of spring, hope and new beginnings. For Pagans, it was to celebrate the spring equinox, which is considered to be sacred times. The term Easter is derived from Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring and new beginnings.
For my family, it meant coming together and spending time by bonding. We have always been a close-knit family and we always looked out for each other. My siblings and I always spent a lot of time together playing games and we always found something to do with our parents on the weekend whether that was going to a park, baking, movie nights or long walks around town. Holidays were never an exception to this.
As a kid, we did some easter activities like easter egg hunts, easter egg bowling and sometimes even some easter crafts. My favourite one growing up was always drawing rabbits on hard boiled eggs in different colours.
The older my siblings and I got, the more things changed. We would still get together with everyone in the family and still celebrate by getting each other some sweets, but we would do different activities. Now that my siblings and I are older, we play board games and card games together, watch movies and celebrate with music that came out in the 1980s and the 1990s.
The one thing that never changed, was the family dinner that we always had. We always had fairly large dinners with potatoes, mixed vegetables, homemade stuffing, smoked ham and a mix of different salads. We always had the option of having chips, ice cream or pie afterwards.
At the end of the weekend, we would always talk about how important family was and the goals we had for our futures. We tell stories from our childhoods and look at old photos. Although it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago for me, it always feels nostalgic when I look through the photo album and hear the stories my parents share.
This year, I will be missing out on the family activities as I focus on the very end of the semester. Although I won’t be there for the weekend, I will be spending a lot of time with my family to reconnect with them two weeks later. With plans of movie nights and game nights waiting to happen, it will still be as meaningful to all of us.
Family and bonding was always what Easter represented in my family and how we celebrated it was always special to us. Things may have changed over time, but it is something that I would never consider giving up for anything.
What does Easter mean to you? How do you celebrate the holiday?
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