Today of course is Good Friday, a significant Christian holiday around the world and the beginning of Easter Weekend which will be very different this year.

I always associated Easter with the true start of spring, especially when it falls in the month of April like this year.  It marks a beginning and for me that goes back to the days when I worked for my father on the Seaside boardwalk.  If the weather cooperated we would open for the first time on Palm Sunday but Easter was the true start of the season.

Families would come out wearing elaborate outfits and there would even be an “Easter Parade” to decide various best dressed awards. Gone were navy blue, black and brown and in were sky blue, pink and yellow.

Years later when our children were small the day would start by attending church services and yes we were the ones breaking out new outfits with bright colors for them and for us as well.

If we were not on vacation then we would usually head to grandma and grandpa's with other family members.  There might be an Easter egg hunt for the kids and always plenty of food.

Easter was all about the start with hope that better days lie ahead as winter was now behind us.  Those days would be warmer and longer, flowers were blooming and grass was getting greener by the day.  You had a little extra bounce in your step and vowed to begin a diet so you could drop a few pounds before summer when you had to put a bathing suit on.

So now comes this year during the coronavirus pandemic.  They’ll be no new outfits put on in the morning before church.  Afterwards it won’t be off to grandma's with the cousins or meeting them for Easter brunch or strolling the boardwalk in Seaside Heights or Point Pleasant Beach in your finest.

However despite it all the Easter Bunny will likely find its way to many homes leaving a basket with some goodies in it because even in the worst of times he (or she) still has a job to do.  Let’s hope this Easter is still the beginning of better days yet to come.

Stay healthy my friends!

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