John,

Easter is not just church, eggs, and bunnies. It’s tradition.

Easter Sunday doubled as the fundraiser for the church youth group. That meant we had to get to church by 6:00 AM to make the pancakes. As a pastor’s kid, I then sat through three services with my mom refereeing behavior in the front pew. After church, we’d come home for Easter brunch and a jelly bean hunt.

Today, sitting through Easter services without my siblings and mom makes me nostalgic. Why didn’t I appreciate those times more? Why did I complain throughout Lent that I hated waking up at the crack of dawn? I should have been happy to donate money from my paper route to help pay for the fundraiser.

This Easter will be the second year in a row that we won’t go to church services because of COVID. Now I'm nostalgic, too, for the days when my son pokes my daughter, my daughter hits him back, and I have to quietly take George out of the church. (Don’t tell their mother.)

The COVID crisis has taken its toll, but with Wisconsin leading the way in vaccinations, we feel Easter's promise of renewal. May this season fill you and your family with hope and optimism. Happy Easter.

— Tom