Today is yesterday and the day before: cloudy and cold. When I went to get the papers, I said good morning to the woman taking a brisk walk by my house. She was wearing a winter coat, knitted hat and gloves.  “Layered?” I asked. “Definitely!” was her answer. It is that cold this morning.

In my memory drawers the Easters of my childhood were always warm and sunny and filled with color. The traditional picture was on the front steps facing the sun and we all squinted. My straw Easter basket had alternating slats in yellow, green and red. The grass on the bottom was plastic and bright green. It struck to anything half-eaten: the candy tasted then put in the basket and saved for later. Jelly beans were big and all sorts of colors. I used to say the red was my favorite, but I think all the colors really tasted the same. The rabbit was eaten in stages. I was an ears first kid.

Easter dresses had pouffy petticoats underneath and most were in light pastels. The shoes were shiny patent leather each with a single strap across the front. My socks had a frilly, lacy top which folded over. When I was little, I couldn’t wait to get dressed in my new clothes. I’d put on my dress and turn in circles, and my dress would swish and twirl with me. I felt like a princess.

When I got older, Easter lost some of its luster for me. I still ate the rabbit’s ears first but pouff and patent leather were gone. One year I had my mother buy me a blazer, blouse and skirt combo. At my grandparent’s house Easter afternoon, I heard my aunt ask my mother about my outfit. She thought it was plain and hardly Easter. My mother told her it was what I wanted. That was enough.

I remember one Easter when I was in Ghana. It was a special day the way Easter should be. I was in Accra as I had traveled down on Good Friday, the start of school vacation week. A bunch of us went to a beach resort for the afternoon. I remember walking along the shore and then stopping to play coconut. We used a palm tree branch as the bat and a coconut as the ball. The game was fun. The whole day was fun. That night we all went to out to eat at a nice restaurant, not our usual hole-in-the-wall. The restaurant even had potatoes.

Easter still has traditions some dating back to my childhood. I sneak down early in the morning and decorate a tree by my friends’ deck. They give me a basket, and I do baskets for them. I always eat the rabbit’s ears first. We get dressed up and go to a fancy restaurant for dinner. We sit and enjoy the view of the ocean. We have the best time together.