So, I’m
Greek. Not sure if you know anyone Greek but for Easter, we eat lamb and crack red eggs after dinner. The only excitement
happens when someone of grandparent age sneaks in a wooden egg and cracks everyone else’s eggs, including the children’s.
(Whoever has the un-cracked egg gets good luck for the year.) My Easter is April 27th this year so, my Favorite-Aunt-Sis
(she’s asked me to call her that since I was a child) invited me for Easter. She’s not Greek.
I got there
just before the jellybean hunt. Now, in my 35 years, I have never done a jellybean hunt, we just don’t do that. Again,
red eggs, lamb (which is a WHOLE other story, by the way.) In fact, let me digress, this could be part of why I’m still
single…
My mom is from Greece, right off the boat. I grew up in a very Mediterranean environment, you know,
everybody gets wine no matter how old (we’d take a sip and gag) and for every celebration, gathering, ailment, heartache,
whatever, we ate. Could also be why I’ve been on a diet since I was 7…
Anyway, Easter has ALWAYS
been my favorite holiday for a number of reasons, one, it’s my name day (I am named after a holy event, all Greeks are
either named after a religious event or a saint) so I always got a present. Also, my grandparents would get a lamb about a
month before and keep it in the cellar. Alive, of course.
So, every Sunday, after church, we’d go visit my YiaYia and
Papou and my brother Jeff and I would sprint downstairs to play with Fluffy, (I named him.)
Easter Sunday rolled around,
I was either 6 or 7, Jeff and I ran down to play with our “pet.” We searched everywhere but Fluffy was nowhere
to be found. Since, I was the oldest and most impatient, I ran upstairs to ask where he was and my mom’s uncle, forever
the comedian, pointed to the platter in the center of the table.
Who does that?????
Can I just
tell you? I couldn’t eat lamb for at least 10 years! Have you ever had lamb cooked outside on a spit? It’s probably
the best thing you’re ever going to put in your mouth. (Besides, Haagen Dazs Bailey’s Icecream, of course. I tried
that at my Favorite-Aunt-Sis’ after Easter dinner. I can’t imagine going back to Ben & Jerry now.)
Anyway,
so back to jellybeans and colored Easter eggs… my cousin’s kids got to go on a hunt for plastic pastel colored
eggs filled with coins and puzzle pieces. They were told riddles on where to find the eggs. I have never seen kids so beside
themselves excited in my life. I have to admit, it was a little bittersweet as my Easter memories waned back to little Fluffy
marinating on the table.
I can’t believe I missed out on the Easter egg hunts! When they found all the
eggs, they had to put together the puzzle pieces to get the grand prizes which were Webkins, these little stuffed animals
that you take care of on the Internet. (Now, that’s my kind of pet!)
I ended up staying for,
at least, 8 hours and I don’t think I stopped eating for a minute! (FYI, I am officially
off the weigh-in wagon.)
