The Easter Bunny? By Wendy Knox Morton

Early in my years of motherhood I had an experience that shaped the way I value and celebrate holidays and other family traditions.  This memory is also significant in reminding me to always wait for the miracle because it will show up.  At the time, my son Drew was six years old and my daughter Ayla had just turned two.  

As a family, we were experiencing a very troubled time both financially and emotionally.  I had recently separated from their father and was suddenly a single mom.  I was unemployed and living in a mobile home in the rural town of Cash, Texas.  I did not have a car or a phone and I relied on neighbors dropping by in order to get rides into town. 

It was the Thursday before Easter weekend and Drew got off the school bus talking up a storm about the Easter Bunny.  He was going on and on about how he and Ayla were going to get lots candy and toys.  Stopping to spread his arms out as wide as possible he said, "In big colorful baskets."  He was ecstatic about having an egg hunt like we did the years before.  He said, "Since Ayla is a big girl now, she can hunt for eggs all by herself this year".

My heart was sinking and my mind was reeling because I had completely forgotten about any treats for Easter.  Those types of items did not make the grocery list because I had only about fifty dollars for food that week.  I did not even have any eggs to boil and color, much less baskets of goodies to be left by the Easter Bunny.  How could I explain this to Drew without breaking his heart?

After much soul searching, I decided that I just had to be honest with him.  What else could I do?  I had to tell Drew that there is no such thing as the Easter Bunny.  I had to inform him that it was actually me who bought the goodies and hid the eggs while he was sleeping.  I had to explain to a six-year-old child that I could not afford candy and toys right now.  I knew I would be walking on sacred ground concerning all other mythical characters and creatures I had intertwined in our family traditions, like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.  Drew was a smart kid who questioned everything and I had told him that these characters were real.  Not only was I going to ruin all the fun and traditions, but I was also going to have to confess to being a liar.

The night before Easter, with a heavy heart, I told Drew the truth about the Easter Bunny.  He was devastated that I had lied to him.  He was even more upset that he was not waking up to treats in the morning.  We cried and cried as I put him to bed and he fell asleep without asking me about Santa or anything else.  I felt horrible and thought I was the worst mother in the whole world.  I cried myself to sleep that night as well.

Easter morning I was awakened by elated screams and thundering bangs on my door.  Drew was yelling, "Mom, Mom, Mom, come out and see!"  I opened the door and he grabbed my hand dragging me frantically into his room.  He looked up at me, put his hands on his hips and said with such conviction, "Mom, you were wrong.  There is such thing as the Easter Bunny."  He threw open his closet door and on top of his pile of toys was a stray mother cat and her three newborn kittens.  She had found her way into our home through an open dryer vent and blessed our family with the magic of love and the possibility of miracles in their many forms.  Drew gave me the biggest hug and told me that it was okay that I did not buy him any candy or toys.  He said, "You didn't lie, you were just wrong about it being a bunny."

We spent our Easter morning visiting with the kittens and making Easter eggs and Easter cats out of construction paper and glitter.  We hung our decorations all around the house and I hid pennies for Drew and Ayla to find.  They absolutely loved it.  We ate our breakfast that we were very thankful for and combined our left over milk to feed the mother cat.  I had everything I needed to celebrate Easter with my children before the kittens arrived.  It just took the miracle of their timing and my young son's wisdom and imagination for me to see the blessings of abundance around me.