Good Friday

It’s Good Friday and I think it’s a good day to be reflective to remember the past and to think about the future.

For me I think about my mom and as you can see in the pictures below Easter was a very special time. Mom raised us kids all on her own, we had a lot of time with my grandmother and my uncle who looked after my grandma his whole life and we were all very close. Easter was the time of going to church although we went to church every Sunday, Easter was special, it was about family and it was about being thankful and being grateful. Growing up we didn’t have a lot but what we did have a lot of love, we always had clean clothes and my mother always made sure we had food .She was a terrific gardener, her garden the size of most peoples lots that their houses sit on now, as well as fruit tree and various berry bushes. Everything was canned and frozen so that we never went without, we raised chickens and so we always had eggs we always had chicken to eat, she was she was an incredible woman who along with my grandmother taught us so much and ensured we laughed a lot. My uncle took on the role of doing all the fatherly type things with us we learned a lot from him and laughed a lot with him as well, all three are gone now, and they are always missed but every time Easter rolls around I think about all the Easter‘s where they went to all the trouble of putting together special things for us, hiding them out amongst the flowerbeds in the trees and bushes and we would have to go hunting for them. We were only to only take the one that was meant for us and leave the others behind without saying anything, in some peoples eyes there may not have been much there, for us it was everything and the most exciting day. ( perhaps why i still love treasure hunts) In those moments we had so much to be grateful for. As we got older my mother trying to ensure that upcoming generations got to enjoy some of those old traditions and learn some of that simple basic fun and joy and happiness dressed up every year in her bunny suit and all the kids in the community came and she bounced through the woods. The kids would get so excited to get a peak of the Easter Bunny and chase after her and she would be dropping little Easter treats all along the way and they had so much fun. It made for such an incredible time for families and community and I always remember my mom and think about how she along with my grandmother and my uncle taught us about the importance of doing what you can to make things better for others and share joy and happiness and that you don’t have a lot have to do it. Sometimes the simplest things are the biggest and best things, so during this time of lockdown and Covid and people feeling like their lives are so disrupted that there is nothing to enjoy. I say lets think outside the box get creative create new memories in new found ways, or go back to some old traditions think about your childhood think about what you did as a child think about all those things and enjoy and have a quiet reflective peaceful Easter weekend.

I am grateful for the love of a woman who truly understood that finding in joy in life is always within reach. I am grateful that because of her, no matter what life has thrown at me I have been able to overcome, to continue to see the good in others. That I am able to face my challenges and have the ability to look for the silver linings. For it was my mother who taught me that there is always a Silver lining if you’re brave enough to look for it.

Wishing you all a Very Happy Easter.