The Easter Box

The funniest thing about memories is that sometimes you don't realize how important an event is until you are on the other side of it.

When My G and I first got married, and it was my first Easter away from home, my Mom sent me a care package.  I don't remember a single thing inside that box.  However, I kept the box itself for years.  We used it for Easter gifts that I'd collect for the kids during the year, or for little odds and ends.  I wish I had a photo of it.  Why was it so special?  Mom decorated the outside of this simple white box so that it looked like an Easter basket, complete with handles, Easter grass, and Easter eggs.  It was priceless.

So, this year, on the other side of missing a child (and knowing she's probably a bit homesick herself), I decorated a plain white box.  My basket doesn't look as good, I don't think, and some of the eggs look a little suspect...  But I think she'll get the idea that I'm still giving her an Easter basket for her to have on Easter morning.

I hope my Mom, upon seeing this box, will remember the one she decorated all those years ago.  And I hope she will hear the unvoiced "thank you" in my action.  Even as we are learning to create our own homes, a positive reminder of our first home means all the world.