My Easter Tree
Some of my fondest memories I have of growing up as a young girl in Germany were my yearly visits to the “Ostermarkt” (Easter Market) with my mother every spring (usually 3-4 weeks before Easter) in search of the most unique, ornate Easter ornaments my mom could find for our “Osterbaum” (Easter Tree). We would spend the day visiting the different merchants (like depicted below), admiring their beautiful handcrafted Easter decorations along the way.
We would then double back to buy the ornaments that most impressed my mom before eating lunch and heading home on the “Straßenbahn” (streetcar). We always ordered lunch through the shiny glass serving window of a little “stand alone” booth barely large enough for one person to turn around in. They only served one item – fresh, “made to order” crepes! To this day, a fresh ham, swiss cheese and cracked black pepper crepe takes me back in time to those special days spent with my mom!
When we returned home, my mom would gently unwrap her new Easter ornaments and hang them with other ornaments from years past on fresh cut pussy willows that my father got from our backyard and neatly arranged in a vase in the center of our kitchen table while we were out. I never tired of looking at the beauty and detail of every little piece on our tree during the few weeks it was displayed.
Although the landscape has changed and my kids didn’t have the opportunity to grow up with Easter Markets and streetcars, I still managed to keep the tradition of my family’s Easter Tree alive. Every year my husband and kids help me decorate our Easter Tree with the beautiful inherited decorations I so lovingly helped my mom pick out so many years ago while I tell my kids wonderful stories about their grandma and the amazing woman she was. Hopefully, in turn, my children will share “The Story of Our Family” with their children much in the same way I have with them while also sharing the true meaning of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’d love to hear all about your memories too! Please tell me about special memories of holidays gone by with your family in the comments section below!