Easter

"Scratch scratch."

"Scratch scratch."

Ashley looks towards the direction of the sound, and a smile stretches across her face.

The Easter Bunny is scratching at the screen door.

But this isn't any old Easter Bunny. No, most Easter Bunny heads aren't made out of a paper bag, with floppy paper ears and uneven holes in the eyes so he doesn't fall walking up the stairs.  This Easter Bunny is decked out in an immediately recognizable pastel plaid shirt, clean pressed khakis, and white sneakers.

Ashley opens the door.  "Happy Easter Grampie!"

~~~~~~~

"CHRIS, I found one of yours!  It's over there.  No, look closer to the rock.  Not that rock.  You're getting warmer . . . warmer . . . you're burning up!" Ashley shouted.

"I found it!," Chris exclaims, tossing the bright pink plastic egg into his Easter Basket.

Jenna and Brett aren't too far behind.  As the two youngest, they're often rushed through this process by their enthusiastic, slightly competitive older cousins. But they're catching up.  Both are able to read their names now, so they no longer need Chris and Ashley's help to figure out if the egg they've found is theirs.

"I have six eggs," Jenna chirped excitedly.

"Everyone's supposed to have nine.  Make sure you look hard!" Grampie reassures Jenna and the rest of the kids.  "Look under leaves. You know we don't hide them out in the open!"

"I should have given them rakes when they came out here," Uncle Randy sighs. "It would have saved me a lot of time in the next couple of weeks!"

~~~~~~~

"This looks like water.  Could that mean the hose in the backyard?" Chris, Ashley, Jenna and Brett's heads are huddled around a small piece of paper.  "See?  I think this means the hose - because the rose bush is right next to it.  To the hose!" Chris shouts.

Eight legs run up, up, up the hill towards the hose.  

Two of those legs belong to Ashley, who is decked out in white stockings and a pink lacy dress.  Her white patent leather shoes nudge leaves out of the way as her eyes trace the path of her shoes.  Any indication of a bright color means an egg, and an egg means one step closer to finishing the hunt!

Brett pulls the strap of his beloved suspenders up and uses his hands to push the hose out of the way.  Being the smallest, he always got help from his cousins.  But this year, they are letting him search more on his own.  He even finds a few and leaves them hidden, only giving his cousins clues if they ask for one.

" 'Jenna'!  I've got mine!" Jenna squeals with delight.  "Does anyone else have theirs?  Should we start looking for the next clue?"

"Not yet," Chris mutters, "I know mine is here somewhere!"

"It's not going to jump out and bite you, Christopher," Grampie reminds his frustrated grandson, "You're going to have to keep your eyes open!"

~~~~~~~

That same Easter Bunny sits on my parent's couch this afternoon.

"Grampie, do you remember when you walked up to the door with that paper bunny hat on?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I do.  You remember that?" he responds with a laugh.

"Of course I do," I reply. "And I always will," I say to myself.

~~~~~~~

Most of my family celebrated separately today - celebrating with in-laws, or their own grandchildren, as my grandparents are now great-grandparents three times over - so there was no Easter Egg hunt.

In a few short weeks, the family will gather to celebrate his 89th, and the Easter Bunny will hide his eggs again.  All seven of us grandchildren and three great-grandchildren will sprawl across a lawn, searching for brightly colored eggs amongst the dead, brown leaves and fresh, green sprouts.

My cousins and our parents might exclaim that we are too old for an Easter Egg hunt.  That it should just be for the "children".

But in my eyes, it is also for the Easter Bunny. Who, for more than 25 years, has followed his grandchildren around a backyard, listening to their shouts of joy and their conversation, watched their eyes light up and their body language change when they spot an egg, and welcomed their hugs when it is all done.  He deserves every last chance to feel, and see, and experience all of that.

When you're lucky enough to find an Easter Bunny that believes in laughter, adventure, family, and fun - keep him around for as long as you can.  Because a year will come when he isn't there to crack inappropriate jokes, or tell you to look harder for an egg, or make paper bunny masks, or make maps.

Easter Bunnies are hard to catch.  So when you catch yours - hang onto him for as long as you can.