They Didn't Think We'd Do It This Year?

Times change. Kids grow up. Parents/Grandparents age. Traditions change. What is a celebration of Easter changes, too. I sit alone on the church pew and watch the young families sit together in their Easter finery, not long ago that was us. We won't be able to have dinner guests in our home this year; it is our turn to go out to Mom's nursing home to be with her. I am touched that John decided to come "home" to our church to play with the brass group for one last time before graduation. The atmosphere in church is one of celebration with the resurrection of Christ. However, I am getting calls from Mom via my cell phone. The emergency (for her) is the confusion of when we will be eating dinner...she is sure they are not going to be serving the meal at the noon hour and we won't be able to feast with her. I need to assure her that it will all work out. I leave church early to go out to be with her, and I am in tears...this is not how I thought Easter would be. But, this is how life can be here on earth, isn't it? I am thankful to know there is a bigger plan out there. This brings me to why joy needs to be found when you can find it. Family matters so much to me, and being together with Wes, John, Anne and Jed makes me joyful. Which is why Wes and I keep doing silly things with them, such as our annual Easter Basket hunt. Though Wes' prose is nearly illegible and rhymes are sometimes painfully penned, the "kids" seem to want to keep this tradition going. John even commented to Wes this year that it was too bad the Bunny hadn't come to our home Easter morning - little did he know the Bunny would stop by Windsor Park to find the family somehow!

Dinner was almost finished when a "distraction" happened and there was a note plopped into the floral bouquet in the center of the table. Whatever could this be?

Anne is to be commended for her determination in finding the clue hidden underneath the piano!

Whew! This is getting tricky! Fortunately, John is a strapping young buck and could lift up a plant to find a clue hiding underneath the pot. (Jed appears to be letting John do all the work!!)

Too bad the last clue was missing from the hot cocoa machine. Apparently, someone had spilled a cup of cocoa and threw away the clue that was hiding underneath the cup dispenser. Luckily the Bunny and Her Assistant could tell hunters to go to Grandma's closet to look for the final treats!

Mom was having an especially confusing day , yet she was thrilled the "Bunny" got her a garden thermometer for her room - she's thinking her wall thermostat isn't working properly nowadays.

She also loved her box of tissues, permanent markers, muffin treats and toothpaste.

Here's our goofy group posed in Mom's room. You'll note the one with the bunny ears? Guess we haven't lost our touch just yet after all! Who knows what next Easter will bring? We'll keep looking for joy where it can be found. And, maybe joy has a way of finding us even when we least expect it.