Bunnies are the reason for lots more bunnies

Many families celebrate Easter and Spring differently.  I remember as a kid our school's Spring break fell over the week of Passover and Easter, so it seemed more about Spring and fun plastic toys than Jesus. It seems like Easter has become more secular, like Christmas, in that we celebrate symbols rather than talk about why we're getting together to have casserole with Aunt Kathy and the family. I think the part of me that justifies not going to church thinks of this time of year as a more ancient tradition of celebrating life and our own creations. Whether you are spiritual, religious or "other",  I hope everyone has a great Spring/Easter/Passover/Plastic Egg day.


Here's more feedback from our friends, about how they celebrate.







Why do you think we celebrate Easter/Spring with symbols of the bunny rabbit and
a decorated egg?
I think we use those things are we start to see signs of spring around Easter time, and there are birds laying eggs and baby bunnies (& other critters) to be seen running around. Easter is about the start of new life, and these things are concrete examples of that. –Ann

 Great question, I haven't a clue.  Honest.  I'm tempted to go to Wiki, but you instructed me not to so... hmm.  I'm guessing the whole 'spring has sprung' thing has been around for a while, all the animals come back out... bunnies, birds, etc.  hence the eggs...  lol... lame guess, but you told me no Wiki so you get a lame answer.  ;p –Jeana

I'm sure at one point I knew the real answer to this.  But I'm sure it has something to do with new life (egg) and the bunny has to do with spring somehow.  How this ties into Easter and Jesus is beyond me... but how on earth does Santa tie into Jesus being born?  Who knows.  The Easter bunny probably resurrected Jesus or something. –Steffy

My guess is that rabbits represent fertility and life, which is kind of the meaning of Spring.  Same thing with the egg - new life.  It could also be a play on the religious idea of being "born" anew, as Jesus was on Easter (sort of). – Cristy

Not to keep anyone in suspense, I looked this up on wiki. “Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.”  And then there’s more about how Germans had sugar rabbits, but don’t give a reason. So we’re pretty correct that it’s about spring and fertility etc.  yay! --Teresa


What's your favorite childhood memory of Easter?

Going to my grandmother's.  On my mom's side of the family, every year we would go to visit my mama and papa for Easter.  Mama would have a great big easter egg hunt, one for the kids and one for the adults.  We were always guaranteed a certain number of eggs and a certain amount of money... Mama played fair.  It was a big to-do... we would hide in the house while Mama and one of my uncles went outside to hide the eggs.  The eggs had our names written on pieces of paper taped to them.  And then there were surprise eggs that anyone could find.  As the older cousins grew up, they could choose to be in the adult egg hunt... it meant more money, but no guaranteed eggs.  And once you went to the adult hunt, you could never go back.  I never chose to be in the adult hunt, and my last Easter with Mama was when I was 17.  –Steffy

My brother and I dressing up for Easter Sunday.  I was probably 5 and my brother 3 1/2 or so.  I had on a light blue dress with white ruffles in the front and a white floppy Easter hat (that I LOVED) and my brother wore the most adorable little boys' suit with a clip-on tie.  We're holding hands in the pictures we have (sorry I couldn't find it to include here).  I remember being excited about wearing my hat.  When else do you get to wear a pretty hat?  Oh, and I think I had a little white purse, too.  So cute. :) –Cristy

My favorite memory is the indoor Easter egg hunt that we had at my Nanny & Pa-Paw's one year when it snowed on Easter Sunday. Each of us kids (there were just 3 of us) had our treats hidden in a different room of the house. – Ann

Coming home after church to find the backyard was filled with eggs and gifts from the Easter Bunny. My dad doesn’t go to church, he said it was so that he could see the Easter bunny. He would say things like, ‘oh the Easter bunny and I had a big old steak and then we hid your eggs!’ He was pretty creative hiding things around the yard. I remember one year he took a pair of earrings and stabbed them in the cherry tree.  -- Teresa