See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows.
Earth with heaven above rejoices…
[Charles Kingsley]

My mother made Easter into my favorite holiday. She handwove our egg baskets. (Here’s a photo from Easters past) She fixed a special dinner. She made a game of giving us gifts.

In an era when children rarely got a new outfit, Mama made sure that our new church clothes came at Easter time. She usually sewed all the parts of it that she could. On Easter morning, we would wake and find a string on our bed. As we followed the string from room to room, we found hidden treasures—new underpants, new socks, new petticoat, new gloves, new dress, new hat, new coat. The last item was always our baskets. After we dressed, we went in search of colored eggs. Some years, when it didn’t snow, we’d search in the backyard. In the years since, when asked which is my favorite holiday, Easter is the first to come to my mind.

Even though our weather is still chilly, leaves have burst on trees and early flowers are blooming. In addition to its faith-based reason for me, I think I love Easter because it ushers in the warmly beautiful months.