Rain fell  on the rabbit patch easter Sunday morning

and everything got wet.  No amount of scurrying made a difference. The rain had come to stay awhile. 

The spring showers and the mud it created did stop our grand plans of Lyla’s first easter egg hunt-and we did not set up the outside table for desserts. I felt sad  for the youngest children that either hunted bright colored eggs in the rain, or not at all-but a holiday is still a holiday, whether or not it rains. 

The kitchen smelled like an occasion. We decided on a traditional easter meal of ham, potato salad  and the last of the string beans that were put up last year for such occasions. We were up early to pull it all off.  Soft lights twinkled here and there inside, and they chased away any thoughts of gloom. I was determined to have fresh spring flowers and so ventured out in one of the first showers of the morning. I ended up with a nice arrangement of jasmine,azalea and rosemary. Jenny pulled out her best dishes and the table was set.

Sisters came to Easter Sunday dinner. Will’s mom and her sister, aunt J, came in the midst of a shower with sweet potato biscuits!  Things got lovelier when they showed up at the rabbit patch. They talked as only sisters can, correcting one anothers recollections of past events. Several times, I realised that they would protect one another,no matter the odds. Their banter was harmless and I laughed at their way of conversing. Sisters love the same people- and one another,like rain.

The rain fell all the while-almost gently and quite steadily. It always sounds like a lullaby when it does so to me.  When I was young, the older folks in the family would often say, “I love you like rain.”  I was so accustomed to hearing that phrase  that it made good sense to me.  They also said things like “as right as rain”. Rain seemed to be a good thing and I took a fancy to it early on. When I grew up, playing in spring showers was a right for children, as long as it wasn’t thundering.  My own children did the same. There was always some complaints from some adult that declared we would surely catch our “death of cold”, but no one ever did.

This easter may not have dawned with sunshine. Children did not get grass stains on their easter outfits and easter eggs did not get the glory they deserved-but it was easter none-the less. The rain did not change the joy of gathering with loved ones for a holiday. Families gathered and we were reminded who we belonged to and who belonged to us. It was a time to say,  “I love you like rain.”