ASH WEDNESDAY-The seventh Wednesday before Easter is the first day of Lent. The season of Lent has been a time for self-examination and penitence in preparation for Easter. The first day of Lent begins 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast falling on a different day each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter.
According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, during which he endured temptation by Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of this 40-day period of prayer and fasting.
As we head into the Holy season of Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter my mind is full of many thoughts. It is 40 days till Easter right now. Wow, here we are heading at freight train speed into the brick wall of death and depression for the spiritual sense and my physical sense. I was planning to write about Good Friday and Easter right now, but have decided to save it and make a couple blogs out of this time of year.
I am transported back to the years of making matching Easter dresses for the girls. I would spend a long time picking just the right dress patterns and then the material and laces to match. Then came the time to make 3 dresses and still be wife and mom to 3 small girls. Trying to find hats, shoes, gloves and purses for all the girls, as well, was quite the task. This was in the days of dressing in our “Easter best” for church.
This is also the time when Heather would fall in love with all the stuffed and chocolate bunnies that came out for upcoming holiday. She loved the peeps and jelly beans as well. I am not sure she ever met an Easter candy she didn’t love.. Her favorite ones were the Bunny Big Ears so she had lots of ears to eat. She never saw a stuffed bunny that she could not hug at least once.
We are a society that survives from one holiday to the next. July 4th leads directly into Christmas. Forget Labor Day, Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving. These holidays are overlooked for Christmas and Halloween. The only reason Halloween gets such a big part of the season is because of costumes and candy sales. If there is not a buck to be made then forget the holiday getting any visibility. Christmas goes to Valentine’s Day and the day after Valentine’s Day leads right into Easter. This is where we are now. Right after Easter we get to think about Mother’s Day. Last year I was very thankful as there was only 2 weeks between Easter and Mother’s Day. It is a very difficult time for me to see and hear all the stuff for Mother's Day. Mostly because I never dreamed that Mother's Day 2008 would be the last one Heather would be here for. During this most difficult time of Easter and Mother’s Day is when I get to celebrate Heather’s death day. I say celebrate not like big party and lots of happy faces, but as in celebrate the day that her suffering here on earth was ended and mine just began.
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