Easter Bunny

I was looking through old photos and found this one of Teri and Cindy with the Easter bunny taken at my parent’s home. My parents had that bunny when my brother and I were kids, and every Easter we’d find the bunny out on the lawn with colored eggs all over the grass and hidden behind tall weeds. It was so exciting for us – I think I probably thought the bunny actually brought them . . . or maybe laid them? I just remember it as a wonderful, fun time for all of us with the Easter bunny. I don’t know when we stopped doing that, but it did come to an end. When I married and had children, we would go to Hood River and visit my folks and the Easter bunny. Teri and Cindy would look out on the lawn and see the bunny among all the eggs. They loved it and so did we as we raced outside to see who could find the most eggs.

So I decided to call Teri because I thought I had seen the bunny at her house one time years ago, and I thought we could reminisce about the fun times we had with it in our own home at Easter when the girls were little. But Teri was in meetings every time I called, so I finally told her assistant I needed to talk to Teri about the Easter bunny. He asked if I were speaking metaphorically, and I said, “No, you idiot – I’m talking about the Easter bunny and Teri will know what I mean.” I actually don’t think I called him an idiot – I hope not, because he’s really nice. But Teri didn’t get back to me that day, so I asked Cindy when she came into town and spent the night. She got a glazed look in her eyes, and said, “What Easter bunny?” Teri finally called back and knew nothing about any good times we had had at our house with the Easter bunny. In fact, she didn’t even remember the Easter bunny! I was counting on my girls to come up with a touching story I could write about since I have a hard time even remembering what I had to eat yesterday, let alone years ago, but they came up with nothing!

My last hope was my brother who remembers nearly everything. He remembered the bunny and how we used to hunt for the eggs on Easter. But he said he thinks the bunny didn’t make it; in other words, the bunny fell apart after serving our family for many years. That made me sad as I was sure someone still had it.

So I have no happy story about the bunny at our house when the girls were little, but at least I have the picture of them at my folk’s house. And it looks like they’re enjoying themselves, even if they no longer remember it. I just wish we still had the Easter bunny.