Remembering My Easter Traditions

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of the Easter dresses my mother would make for my sister and me. It was the spring ritual that we loved. But along with our beautiful dresses came the ritual we didn’t love: getting a permanent in our hair….ugh. That is the worst curse for a child, getting your annual Easter permanent so your hair would be curled beyond belief. When mom grabbed the box that contained the permanent solutions, we would run! But finally she won out, and we sat there for hours while the stinky solution put tiny curls in our hair. For weeks afterward, every time it rained or we were shampooed, our hair smelled as rotten as a forgotten Easter egg. You know the smell if you have had a “permanent wave.” Back then your mom was the master of curls.

Now back to the dresses. Mom would make the cutest dresses for Easter. Whatever was in fashion, Mom would copy. We loved the full skirts that stood out over a crinoline petticoat. In fact, on Easter we literally stood up behind the front seat of the car so that our dresses would not wrinkle. I am sure mom loved the parade of us Norton girls in her gorgeous creations. Following behind would be our brother, “strangled to death” with a tie as he put it. The Easter parade was in full swing as we all walked into the church. We always sported white gloves with these dresses to hide the dyed fingers from the egg dying that preceded Sunday.

Today, I love to sew for my granddaughter, and I take delight in seeing her parade in one of Gigi’s creations. She is a girly-girly girl and loves full skirts that twirl. Sewing is one of my favorite hobbies, and as long as she will wear my handmade dresses, I will be sewing for her like my mother sewed for me. From the looks of my fabric stash, I will be sewing for decades. What a joy!

Tell me: What’s your favorite Easter tradition?