When I was a school-child “Spring Break” was always the week before Easter and called “Easter Vacation,” but this year it is at the end of the month and the children will be “breaking” in a couple of weeks.  Seems to me there is no connection with the holiday recess, be it religious or a celebration of colored eggs, marshmallow “Peeps” and Chocolate Bunnies.

Holidays in my family were a reason for celebration and like Christmas my mother would always began preparations early.  One year she and my father drove in the mountains looking for a manzanita bush she could use for a “tree.”  They cut it at the appropriate place, brought it home and my Dad spray-painted it silver.  During the weeks before Easter we all blew our brains out, blowing the contents of the uncooked egg out of the shell.  (We ate a lot of scrambled eggs for dinner.)  Then my mother would hand-paint each egg.  They were hung with thread on the “tree.”  It would be the centerpiece of the Easter dinner table.

Easter Day I would get a new dress and hat.  The colored egg hunt would begin when my sister’s family arrived and anyone else who happened to be invited.  A big dinner was served and consumed.  The anticipation was building for we all knew the climax of the meal and the day’s events; the breaking of the eggs.  Some times there were little poems rolled up and tucked inside.  Some times there were dollar bills.

As we children grew older, interest in the holiday event waned.  My mother would still “blow” eggs occasionally.  The  “tree” suffered much from storage in the garage.  Finally everything was put where all unused holiday items and memorabilia are kept; the darkest and most inaccessible corners.

When my mother died and we were cleaning out, as most families do, I found the old cardboard box, dusty and unlabeled.  It was very light and I was about to drop it from the heights of the garage storage, but luckily I remembered what it contained.  There were old Easter Baskets, decorations, and many cartons which held eggs lovingly wrapped in kleenex.  The tree was not salvageable.

I still have those eggs and each Easter decorate the new tree.  They are very fragile and I often wonder how many more years I will be able to enjoy them and the memories they evoke.

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WAREFAMILES HAS GONE GREEN!

Last month we switched our server to a “Green”  Hosting company in California.  The server is run strictly on solar power.  Just doing our part to save the planet for future generations.

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STORIES WANTED FOR MOTHER’S DAY

We had such a great response at Christmas time, I am putting out the call again.  I would like you to share thoughts and memories of your mothers and grandmothers.  Whether they are living or past, let us know the impact, these important women. had on your life.  And made you who you are today.  Photos would be a nice addition.

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ACORNS

Perhaps some of you don’t realize the benefits of these little tidbits.  Everyday, I look for churches, organizations, military companies and records of service, civil service documentation, occupations and many other items that will “flesh-out” your ancestors.  This type of searching is ongoing.  Currently I am going through information I can find in counties, state by state.  I am researching all Ware first names and you will find them alphabetized in a handy drop-menu.  Some Ware first names are common from generation to generation and I try to find a date to help define that persons generation.  Check back often.

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