I didn’t plan to go home for Easter this year, but the coronavirus pandemic had different things in mind for me. Easter has never been a major holiday in my family, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have fun decorating eggs and cooking a feast. However, for the past five years, I hadn’t been home for Easter. It started off with a family vacation and then traveling with a friend’s family, and then last year I was studying abroad in Switzerland. And seeing as how I go to college about 14 hours from home, I was planning on just having a laid-back celebration with friends. But when the virus began spreading in March and my college shut down, I returned home to quarantine with my family. Going from total freedom to living back under my parent’s roof with minimal contact with anyone else was proving to be challenging. I was overwhelmed with school work, upset I couldn’t see my friends, devastated that I went from sunny and warm weather to freezing snow. Yet, this is Easter is one I will never forget.
Looking on the bright side, I really did miss my family and am glad that I got to see them. It was unexpected and fun celebrating the holiday together again. I spent time dying eggs and baking cookies. We delivered Easter dinner to my grandma and my sister and her fiancee (from a distance of course) and then Zoomed with our extended family. My mother insisted on an egg hunt and decorated an Easter bonnet. It was fun acting like a kid again and searching the yard for eggs filled with candy. We watched the Super Bowl from 2008 and reminisced about the amazing family party we had that year with all of my cousins screaming when the Giants won. Finally, we chowed down on some ham and potatoes and I realized that I actually really enjoyed the meal I hadn’t tasted in years.
So while I’m sure this holiday didn’t go as planned for anyone, I hope you found something positive to celebrate, too!