I don't know if it was the gold foil.
Or the red ribbon.
Or the little bell.
Whatever it was, it caught her eye.
And do you know what I did?
What I'm really proud of?
I kept my mouth shut.
To me, Easter is a religious holiday not a secular one. In my own liturgical calender it's the most important day of the year. As a result I don't 'do' Easter Bunny's and Easter Eggs, and, if you can believe it, I've never even had a Cadbury's Easter Creme Egg. So as a result Joe and I celebrate Easter quietly. For a fat guy, who loves chocolate, you know that this is a fairly radical belief system. I don't preach about it. Don't make a big deal about it. Keep it pretty much to myself.
Then Ruby's little finger pointed to a Lindt bunny and said, 'I've never had one of those in my whole life.' Even the longing and the excitement in her voice couldn't budge my sudden need to explain to her my whole philosophy of Easter. After all, she's five. She's a captive audience. Even more, she's still at an age where she listens and considers, deeply, what I have to say.
Five.
She's five.
I dug down deep.
Found the strength.
And said, 'Really, never, ever, in your whole life?' She shook her head sadly.As if five long years worshiping the golden bunny from afar was a torture hard to bear. So we chatted happily about her hopes for Easter, her love of Chocolate, and her anticipation of the arrival of the Easter Bunny. I loathe the whole idea of the Easter Bunny. But we talked about the furry Easter Interloper anyways.
You see, something I've learned.
It isn't always about me.
There are boundaries I need to respect.
A little girls excitement about Chocolate Bunnies is one of those things.
She needs me to respect her view of the world from time to time. She has lots of time to grow up. Lot's of time for serious discussions about faith. She even has lots of room to disagree with old curmudgeon's like me. A guy who would eat chocolate every day of the year EXCEPT Easter Sunday.
So today, we picked up four Golden Bunny Rabbits. One for Mom and one for Dad and one for Sadie and one for her. Her time in the desert is over - she will not live another year without having had a foil covered confection.
And I'm good with that.
What I'm really good with is that ...
I kept my mouth shut.
