Here Comes Peter Cottontail

       Easter Sunday, April 11, 1971

         This song has been playing on a TV commercial lately. Every time I hear it, it takes me way back to another time. Another age. My son (in law), asked a question on Facebook if there was a song, that when you hear it now, takes it instantly take you make to another place. Well, here is my song:

"Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail, Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way, 

Bringin' every girl and boy, Baskets full of Easter joy, Things to make your Easter bright and gay

He's got jelly beans for Tommy, Colored eggs for sister Sue, 

There's an orchid for your mommy, And an Easter bonnet too

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppity, happy Easter Day

Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail, Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way, 

Try to do the things you should, Maybe if you're extra good, He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way

You'll wake up on Easter mornin', And you'll know that he was there
When you find those chocolate bunnies, That he's hiding everywhere

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppity, happy Easter Day"

        Easter was quite the big deal when I was growing up. Even though, at the time, my family did not attend church very much, we still were dressed up. I remember we went shopping before Easter, and found the perfect dresses, suits, hats, and shoes. The song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", was THE song we learned and sang for the holiday. And we knew the words too. Time has slowly taken away the memories of those lyrics, but not enough so, that I cannot remember them at all. 

       Thank God for those memories. In the above picture, that is my Mom in the yellow dress, and I am standing behind her, my cousin Denny is behind me. My cousin Denise is in the front of the donkey and the two boys in the back are my cousin Jimmy and my brother Keith. I wonder if they have the same memories of this song as I do? The song has not been lingering in my mind lately though. Is that because I am now of the "age"? And these songs have no place? Not at all. I taught this song to my kids when they were growing up and I guess I need to be teaching it to my grandkids now. I hope my kids all have those same fond memories of Easter as I have carried for these many years now. 

       The memories of looking for the right dress up clothes, the excitement of a waiting Easter basket, the Easter egg hunts (with real eggs that we colored ourselves), the coloring of many Easter eggs, (that were eaten for a week past Easter),  the big Easter dinner that my grandmother made for all of the family. Seems so long ago now. But what fun we had.

        Now I know that Easter is not the eggs, the baskets, the dress up clothes, but the day our Lord and Savior rose again from the tomb. That is another treasure full of memories. As I got older, that became very important to me. And we have taught our kids that this is the very heart of Easter, not the other stuff. But we also had fun with the kids doing the egg hunts, shopping for clothes the Easter baskets, and those things made for great memories as our kids were growing up. 

        And now that we have grandchildren, I want to make those fun memories with them too, along with teaching them that Jesus is the reason for Easter. i want them to grow up with the kinds of memories I had growing up. We will celebrate Easter as a family on Good Friday. We will talk about what Easter means, but we will also color Easter eggs, have an Easter egg hunt, and I will give them Easter baskets. We will be making those memories that will last a lifetime.