Our empty nest feels weird this morning. It’s not our first morning where it’s quiet in the house. Or in the front yard when I took the dog out to do his hunt for the perfect quiet spot routine.
That type of quietness happens every day. I’m getting more used to it each one that passes by.
But today is Easter. Easter morning should be loud.
Not today, though, it’s a low-key, no stress kind of Easter. The peaceful kind of morning I longed for when the kids were sick, or when we rushed them to make it to church on time.
I didn’t bother with formalities this year. It just would’ve created extra work for no gain.
There are no decorations on the table,
no eggs being colored,
no toast being made in the toaster, or peanut butter faces for me to wipe clean,
no sounds of shrilly thrills in the air as the hunt for hidden eggs and baskets occurred,
no dresses and matching white tights and shoes,
No smiles of joy as they discovered and tore into their baskets of treats – the kites were always a hit.
No sounds of “Hurry up Dad, can you help us? Let’s go get the kites in the air.”
Ah…no matter what weather we were blessed with, Easter morning was busy and noisy. At least, today, no winter jackets will be needed as we celebrate Easter.
It is just a spirit of silence this morning as I entered down the rabbit hole of memories. All happy memories that made me smile. And warmed my heart with an empty nester mom’s unconditional love.
That’s the spirit! Yay, me, I made it back out of the rabbit hole without the need to grab a kleenex. I’m getting better at revisiting what was, and I might just be okay here in our empty nest after all. I won’t be eating any candy to comfort me either. A boiled egg, yes, and Tostitos, probably, too. But no candy. I’ll be a good girl!
Happy Easter to you, our dear daughters. I love you! – Mom, xx
And Happy Easter to all of you, too – Rejoice in your traditions for the day!
Post Inspiration – Sunday Stills – Spirit
PS – How about you, is it quiet or busy in your home today?
Empty baskets here too! Happy Easter
Aw – Happy Easter to you, too!
Happy Easter, Shelley – it’s a quiet day here.
Thank you, Dan. Enjoy the peacefulness of the quiet day.
It’s always quiet in my home, living alone is always peaceful. Have a wonderful Easter Shelley. 🙏🏻
Enjoy your day, John, thank you for the warm Easter wishes!
Thank you Shelley! 🙏🏻
Happy Easter Shelley! It’s the first one for me without a parent around, so it feels a little weird, but it also feels like a normal Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful day and plenty of time to relax.
Thank you, Mary. I remember that first Easter after my mom passed, it was weird, and yes, I agree, just another Sunday. I hope you have a great Easter too – relax and chill with Gibbs, Ziva and Natalie! xx
Happy Easter, Mom❤️
Happy Easter to you, too, Rachel! I LOVE YOU!
It’s been a long time since the Easter baskets and egg hunts ruled the day, after church of course. You captured the beautiful spirit of Easter and family traditions, Shelley! Happy Easter!
Ah, you know the feeling well! Thank you, Terri – Happy Easter to you, too!!
Oh, and I meant to include that it looks like you got the gallery slide show worked out!
Thanks for remembering! I used the Classic Editor to do it, though. I’m going to try soon in Gutenberg, just didn’t have the energy to try it today! Soon, though…!
We’ve still got two kids in the house but they are adults so no Easter baskets here either. Saves us a lot of money – LOL. I do remember the days of hiding things around the house. I had to make myself a list so I would remember where I put everything! Happy Easter, Shelley.
LOL – they should make you baskets for Easter then, right? That’s too funny, we had to do the same thing – a list and a specific color palete for each child with a specific # of eggs to find so we didn’t lose track. One year we did, gave up on finding it, and found it the following year when we were hiding that years’ eggs. Happy Easter to you and your family, too!
We put the initials on the baskets so there would be no confusion!
This post is wonderful. I totally understand and empathize. Quiet day here too. I think this is why we took so many photos. For days like this. And to have them for our blogs! This was the focus of my posts this weekend too. 🙂
Happy Easter!
That’s a great way how to tell the baskets apart. Aw, thank you, glad you enjoyed and could relate to the post. Your post is so precious – love the pictures of you and your sister, and your daughter! Hope you had a wonderful Easter. Ours was nice, and quiet, and filling. 🙂
Yes, thank you, we did have a nice Easter. Like yours, it was quiet but nice as well. 🙂
Happy Easter from one Empty Nester to another! I was just telling my husband yesterday how much I miss preparing Easter baskets for our two sons. We always put candy, and bubbles, kites and an Easter video in their baskets. I miss dressing them up in their Sunday best and heading out the door to church. There was the church service and a fun egg hunt and then later at home, a dessert party and another egg hunt. Fun days that I miss so much.
Happy Easter Shelley!!
Happy Easter, Gail – yes, those traditions are so special. We did the bubbles and kites almost every year. Isn’t it great how a once a year tradition holds such a special place in our empty nest hearts!? Hope you had an enjoyable day, even if you were missing them. We sent and received Snaps from our kids. Still not the same as an in-person hug! xx
It was a great day and a beautiful sunny day at that! I hope you had a good one as well. All your photos and memories are so sweet. Your blog took me back to happy Easter memories! Have a great week Shelley.
Yes, we had a great day. I’m glad the post brought you happy Easter memories! Hope you have a great week, too!
Ahhh good memories of when the kids were small. Same here, just a regular quiet Sunday. We all do have those sweet memories to look back on. 🙂
Yes, we do – good thing for those happy memories to brighten our days. Happy Easter to you, too – thank you for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
May your day be filled with sunshine and Son shine…and may your memories continue to be as beautiful as those pictured here.
Aw, thank you, Anita – I hope you had a wonderful Easter and that your day was filled with sun/Son shine too :-)!
Happy Easter! It’s a very quiet day here: Mary went to bed late and woke up early to go to Mass, so she’s pretty well out of it. I’m just reading blogs and trying to stay quiet…
Happy Easter, to you and Mary! Sounds like you were being a well-behaved young at heart man of the house. 😉
I miss those days when the kids were little. We had a quiet Easter with the in-laws what used to be a decked out multigenerational family affair. I like quiet though and remembering while not needing Kleenex was a plus.
Aw, glad you had a nice Easter. That’s how ours ended up being too – it was just six of us, versus the full room of kids and couples of all ages. Resulted in a tad to much food on my plate…twice…Yikes. No kleenexes and no Tostitos, but I don’t think I want to get on the bathroom scale today!!
I went to my Weight Watchers weigh in this morning. Two lbs up from last Monday but Easter food was so worth it 🙂 lol
OMG – I was up 2 #’s too. It was the ham…and potatoes…and gravy…and cheesecake…and – yeah, um…next week will be better! You’re right it was so worth it, splurging once a holiday here and there is just fine.
Happy Easter, Shelley! Looking back can be easier than drowning in the moment — I try to remember that when I’m tempted to tell young couples to “enjoy every minute” because sometimes parenting is, well, crushing. But I honestly think 99% of us end up here, able to look back fondly on those days with littles.
Thank you, Laura. You’re right on target. I like your description of parenting – you’re very wise!
Sounds like you had a lovely Easter, in spite of your girls not being there. Your photos are so cute! Your girls are beautiful. I miss the days when my son was little. Easter was just a regular day here this year.
Thank you, yes, it was a nice day. Hope you were able to relax and enjoy the day!
Hi, Shelley – We spent Easter with my parents. We were able to drop off Easter Baskets to our three grandchildren along the way. So our Easter was filled with many smiling family faces — some in-person and some on Skype/Social Media. Isn’t it great that we get to experience so many different kinds of Easter? I’m glad that you enjoyed your day.
Aw, that sounds like a wonderful Easter. You’re right, it is fun to have so many different ways to stay connected on the holidays. We sent our share of Snaps to our kids throughout the day. I’m glad you enjoyed your day too! Thank you so much for sharing with me.
Happy Easter! And no Kleenex–good for you! No candy, even better. I definitely failed on that count. I can’t pass up a black jellybean to save my life!
Happy Easter to you, too! LOL – so you’re one of those jelly bean fans!?! I haven’t had one of those or tried one since I was a kid. I wonder if they’d taste better now that I’ve grown up?
Now, I’m just really picky about my jelly beans!
Good thinking – and no one to fight over them with either. 😉
All the giggling and memories are absorbed into the walls – there still.
Somehow quiet Easer mornings again are like coming full circle
Hope your day was hoppy and bright
WP is being quirky again. Cheers from Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge
Aw, thank you!! Dang WP, I sure don’t know why it does the quirky things it does! I appreciate you taking the efforts to share your thoughts and hellos to me!
Yes, so true, I like the way you put it. Yes, it was a bright and hoppy day – hope yours was too!
What nice memories and pictures that you shared Shelley along with bringing Easter mornings back to life with this blog post. I don’t have any pictures on Easter morning as a youngster, except wearing my new Easter outfits over several years, one dress which had a hoop and I wonder how I ever sat in it?
Aw, thanks, Linda, glad you enjoyed the post. I have very few photos of me at Easter too. One with a very large hairdo and a long yellow dress. I should’ve shared that! A hoop, I can’t imagine that either!
I have one with a white straw hat and long red coat and I am dressed way too mature for my age. I wonder if I took the hoop out before getting into the car? It was like an embroidery hoop for goodness sake.
LOL – that’s funny!