Missing the Easter Chip

Did you have a nice Easter this past weekend? Mine was nice, but like the many that have come before it, it was kind of, um, I guess "Easterless" is the best way to describe it. I've noticed in the past couple years that a) people seem to love celebrating this holiday, and b) my own level of festiveness is shockingly low by comparison. Many people I know had dinner with their families this past weekend. People dyed eggs, hid candy and eggs from children, and some even bought presents for each other (what?!). My Easter celebration can be captured in a couple short sentences:

O: (bursting into bathroom while A combs her hair) Hey, I forgot. It's Easter! Happy Easter!

A: (peering critically at hair in mirror) Oh, um yeah. Happy Easter.

And I'm a Lutheran too, so I don't even have the "I don't celebrate Christian holidays" excuse. There has to be a reason behind this, and I think I've got it. My childhood Easters were all spent at a campground in Florida. My parents, both public school teachers, always had that week off work and took advantage of this opportunity for a family vacation. Easter always involved a church service and a brunch (sometimes a nice brunch and sometimes not so nice... 1991 will always be remembered for the Village Inn's so-called bottomless stack of pancakes that was actually anything but), but after that it was just one more in a chain of sun-drenched vacation days.

College Easters were a low-key affair. I lived too far from home to be with family, so it was just another Sunday for me. And after college, when I continued to live far from home, the tradition carried on. I didn't give Easter much thought, beyond the enjoyment of a long weekend and the whole "Jesus rose from the grave" thing. And not for nothing, but I've never talked with my parents and gotten any sort of teary "we wish you could be here with us on this special day" sentiments. Maybe we're not an Easter family. Maybe I was raised to cast aside this particular day. Or maybe Easter isn't actually the big deal that I'm imagining it to be. Maybe it's just an excuse to get out of a Friday of office drudgery and eat some chocolate. And go to church of course. I had to add that last sentence; I'm just a tiny bit afraid that God would smite me if I didn't.