That song, for some reason, planted itself in my brain Sunday. An "ear worm" I think I've heard that phenomenon called. I don't even know the words, and only some of the melody. I don't remember hearing it on TV or anything. So where did it come from? Why has it popped up now, seemingly out of the proverbial blue?
I suppose the Easter holiday has brought out some sentimentality. It doesn't take much to make me wax nostalgic, and holidays just magnify it. I think about the excitement of getting a pretty new dress, dyeing eggs, the aroma of all the lilies in church, searching for my Easter basket, the big meal with cousins and grandparents. As an adult, I was in the church choir for a few years. I'll never be mistaken for a morning person, but there's not much that can match the joy and emotion of a 6:00 service on Easter morning!
The dictionary defines sentimental in part as "marked by feeling or emotional idealism." That makes sense. I don't have memories of any particular new dresses or colored eggs, and I couldn't tell you what specifically was on the menu at Easter dinner. But I seem to have memories of how those days felt. There was that feeling of springtime, and of "new" things. Kind of like the "fresh start" you get at New Year's but with warmer weather. And of course, that feeling of community, of family, of togetherness.
So I'll pause and fondly remember those things. We had a lovely ham dinner this year. The weather was nice, and the lilac bush is budding. I shared some love with family on the phone, via text, or online (ways I couldn't have imagined back in the '70s). The family has grown with nieces and nephews and in-laws and dear friends. I remind myself of the deeper meaning that Easter has for many of us...the glorious resurrection. Yes, Easter now is different than when I was a child. But Easter now can still be worth remembering. Ask me in 35 or 40 years and perhaps these are the Easters I'll be treasuring.
And after I take that sentimental journey to my past, it still feels good to get back home to the present.
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