Easter a Time for Fasting, Feasting, Relaxing and Remebering

Chocolate egg on Sunday; Hot Cross Buns on Friday; four Day weekend; Breaking of Lent, Easter egg hunts!
These for me are the childhood memories I have most vividly of Easter. Memories that are formed through my parents and others bring those memories flooding back of those times gone by.
For me, as a Christian, Easter is now the most important time of the year as I reflect on what Jesus did for me by standing in for me and taking on himself the punishment for the times I have failed.
Yet as I sit and think of the ‘now’ and the ‘then’ of my childhood, it makes me eternally grateful for all those people who have been a part of my life and are now no longer with me, yet their memory still makes me smile. So many, and many more as the years go by for me but I am forever grateful for them sharing their lives with me, all the good, and most of the hard stuff too that shapes who we really are.
For me, Funerals, in whatever form they take, be it formal; informal; family led; private; public; large; small, or any other variation, for me it’s about ‘stepping back’ into the memories, being grateful, smiling, and shedding a tear of both joy and sadness. Yes, they are no longer with us, but by looking back, remembering, and honouring that memory I move feel I can move back to the ow. Knowing I am better for having had them in my life I am now grounded in the present as I move on stronger into the future. My Easter reflection!