I was able to attend (in person) a Maundy Thursday service. Most of the attendees were on line (think there were only 8 people in the church sanctuary). The service was also brief. In the past a simple supper and hand washing before the service would have been the norm, but...
Friday I was off to the NJ shore again to help mom with a visit to a new doctor. (She could have done it on her own, but since I took the day off it seemed like a good idea.) It was a busy day for me, starting with a Shoprite run at 6 in the morning (the usual weekly run) and ended with an evening run to a different Shoprite. In between (besides the doctor visit) I managed to sneak in another Shoprite, an Acme, a Wawa, a Sunoco and concluded with Total Wine and More. Both the wallet and I got a work out!
But that did mean no noon time service, which has long been a favorite of mine. Luckily there is Zoom. While not ideal, I was able to listen in on an early morning service while headed to my parents. While there is nothing like in person, virtual services are such a blessing. When I cannot physically be there, I can still participate. For my father, who has mobility issues, it has been a way to attend the church that he has been a member of for decades, even while living 70 miles away. "Virch" has been one of the blessings of the pandemic.
Saturday was a big day of preparation. I had planned on throwing together a casual Easter basket for my son, but at the last minute decided I needed to put something together for his girlfriend and her sister. I also had a request from my neighbor to don the bunny costume and terrorize her toddler. (Ok, that's not exactly what she asked, but you KNOW it's what happened.) I thought it might be less frightening if I had a small basket for her too. Which is how I ended up in Walgreens Saturday afternoon along with a whole bunch of other wait to the last minute people! (At least Walgreens was relatively well stocked all the grocery stores I visited were barren and stocking for the summer season.) Then I found myself sitting on the floor stuffing brittle plastic eggs (which had been stored in my basement for several years). I think I shattered as many eggs as I stuffed. (I'm still finding plastic shards.)
Putting on a bunny suit is a challenge; especially when it's NOT one size fits all, but intended for a larger (in height and width) person. (I'm not complaining; I got it for $10 last year at the thrift shop.) My husband pinned up the legs for me and escorted me down the stairs so that I could go out in our backyard and sit. (I thought sitting might be less threatening.) Becoming a bunny is a process with a lot of "working parts...suit, shoe covers, vest, bow tie, paws...
Of course
the most difficult part is the head. With all that said, I was glad to do
it for our neighbors (and I will do it again in a heartbeat if they ask), even
if their daughter was too scared to leave her mother's arms. (Although
when they left and went back on their porch, she did kind of wave to me with
the small stuffed bunny that I had put in her basket, so maybe it wasn't
so bad?)
After
spending 20 minutes in a bunny suit, I figured I could declare Lent over.
(It was Easter morning in the Holy Land.) Yes, that meant that I
sat down with a glass of wine (Riesling) before dinner. (And then I had glass
with dinner too!)
Easter
morning the family was up early. (Even my son!) I hadn't even had a
chance to get his Easter basket out of the closet. Oops! But my
husband (who got up AFTER my son! How did that happen?), brought it down
saying the bunny left it in the wrong room. (I'm sure that was convincing
to my teen son.)
After
some coffee and biscuits (Pillsbury chocolate chip flavored sweet biscuits are yummy),
my son and I got dressed for church. He was the layreader and I was part
of the bell choir. It was strange NOT to have a choir, trumpets and a
tympani, but...We were lucky enough to have harpist Robbin Gordon-Cartier join us.
She is fantastic. For me it is not Christmas until I hear her play
"Go Tell It On The Mountain" and after yesterday's postlude her
"He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" runs a close second.
Even though we could not greet each other as we would have liked to (don't we
all want to hug each other again?), being together while remaining socially
distant and fully masked celebrating the holiest of days came as close to
normal as it could. I am grateful that this year we were able improve
upon last year and am hopeful that next year will be even better.
Finally,
my son presented me with a very special Easter gift. The kid knows me!
All in all it was a nice day, even if we didn't have the family gathering that we'd had in the past. I am hopeful for the future...as we all should be.
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