Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Growing up, on Easter Sunday, I had to wear a frilly dress and nylon socks, patent leather shoes and tote a purse with a quarter to put in the collection plate.

I stomped around like I was walking behind a mule and plow.

I just wanted to give my quarter and get out of there.

Before we got home, I was unsashed, unbuttoned and jumped out of the car before it stopped.

I was sorry for acting like that. Mama had worked a long time saving eggs to hide and hunt.

Way before Easter, Mama would start saving eggs shells. She would chip the small end out of the egg and punch a hole in the big end with an ice pick. Then she would blow into the little hole and the egg would come swooshing out the other end into a bowl.

Mama washed the egg shells, turned them upside down on the window sill to dry out.

By Easter, I would have lots of eggs to color.

Mama put egg coloring tablets in cups of dark vinegar and water. When the tablets dissolved, in went the egg shells to color. Then, they got turned upside down on a brown paper bag to dry. They were the most beautiful eggs in the world.

When the eggs dried, Mama would help me put designs on them. The designs came with the coloring. I cut them out and placed them against the egg and dabbed them with a rag wet with vinegar. When I pulled off the design – a lamb, flower or Easter cross would be on the egg. Chicken eggs were beautiful.

Mama stuffed the eggs with jelly beans and corn candy and put a piece of scotch tape over the hole so the candy wouldn’t fall out.

Aunt Eleanor would bring hardboiled eggs to hunt. She said they weren’t good to eat unless they had been hunted all afternoon.

We hid the eggs in the bushes and trees, under cans, on fence posts, behind rocks and logs – hard places. So hard, that we would find Easter eggs in the fall when we were raking leaves.

After we had hunted out, we would sit down and to a gritty candy and egg feast.

When I went to bed on Easter night, I always kissed Mama goodnight and hugged her real tight even though I’d had to wear a dress and hat. I wanted her to know that I was real proud of those eggs she had made for me and of all the fun I’d had on Easter Sunday afternoon.