Easter Memories

An Easter Reflection

Ah, Easter!  My memories begin in the 1950’s in the metropolitan Kansas City area, more specifically the beautiful Country Club Plaza.  I remember being outfitted in new white patent leather Mary Jane shoes, a pretty pastel dress with a little jacket (with the obligatory stiff crinoline underneath), and a spotless white fancy straw bonnet with an elastic chin strap to keep it firmly affixed on my head - despite the breezes coming from across Brush Creek.  Strolling through the Plaza on that special Sunday felt like participating in Kansas City’s own Easter Parade, and I felt as special as Judy Garland must have felt on Fred Astaire’s arm.  I alternated between holding my daddy’s or my paternal grandfather’s hand as we walked down the sidewalks, anxiously searching for something extra special: the human-sized bunny statues, scattered throughout the area and brought out just for Lent!  

Of course, these bunnies had Easter outfits, too. The daddy rabbits wore vests and striped pants; the mama bunnies were in long, bright-colored gowns and carried baskets of flowers.  (The top hats and festive bonnets certainly were custom-made, as proven by the slits in them to accommodate the perfectly-groomed ears.)  And the accompanying children were special, too.  The boy bunnies mirrored my little brother’s shorts and knee socks, the little girls had similar shoes and outfits to rival mine, and each carried a basket filled with dyed eggs. For many, many years, when the weather permitted, and until we moved to St. Louis, this was the Berry family ritual, fit in between church and Easter dinner. My brother and I patiently posed for my grandmother by the various bunnies (for Gram Berry always had a camera in her bag), sometimes alone, sometimes together, sometimes with other family members.  There are of course pictures where I am being held by my mother in earlier years, and, a few years later, pictures of my brother in a stroller when he just wouldn’t stand still for photos!  I cherish those pictures when I come across them in the old family albums,  and I hold fast to those memories they evoke.

Rebecca Pierce