Family Traditions That Bond – So Simple But So Important

I was so pleased when I looked out the window that Easter morning. A bright blue sky like a Robin’s egg hung over head. The path down to the creek shined, lit up by the cheerful daffodils that swayed in the breeze. The branches of the trees were brushed with the bright green of new leaves promising the return of warmer weather. I couldn’t help but think of the Easter’s when I was a little girl.

About a week before Easter my brothers and I would decorate our Easter baskets and write our Easter Bunny letters. We started out with a plain wicker basket. My mom would bring out all the things she had gathered for us to decorate our baskets. I loved running the bright satin ribbons through my hands. We were allowed to decorate our baskets however we wanted. I always used lots of glitter on my baskets. My brothers liked to glue small chicks and bunnies on theirs. One year my Mom helped them to make cowboys and Indians baskets.

While we worked on our baskets my mom would bake us a carrot cake. We would all talk about what we were going to write in our letters. My youngest brother was always so excited about getting a letter from The Easter Bunny. It always amazed me how my mom always had the best ideas. She knew which colors would blend nicely together and how much glue it took to make paper butterflies stay in place. As the room filled with the sweet scent of the carrot cake we would be finishing up our baskets.

My mom would place all the finished baskets on a shelf in her laundry room to dry. She would then bring out the paper for our letters. When my brothers were real small I would help them write their letters. We spent a lot of time on our letters. Along the sides of the paper we would draw colorful Easter eggs or put stickers with bunnies and eggs. We wanted to make personalized Easter Bunny Letters. My mom was the best - she had Easter envelopes and she even found Easter stamps for us to use on the letters.

Now that I am a mother I try to build special memories like my mother did when I was young. Every year when my children sit down to write letters to the Easter Bunny I am so grateful my mom started these holiday traditions. I hope that when my children grow up they carry them on with their families. It is funny how something as simple as writing a letter can bring a family closer together.