So, not much going on in the life of Don. We continue to get snow on a regular basis here in lovely NJ. In fact, we got a few inches of heavy, wet snow on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to the steadily warming weather.

East is this Sunday. Whenever I think of Easter, two mental images are conjured up from my subconscious. The first is one beautiful Easter day many years ago. I must have been about 9 or 10 years old. I think it was one of the years that my birthday and the holiday ended up on the same day – or it may not have been. I received [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0810909650/bujinkanmartia0b/]The Book of Gnomes[/url] from my grandmother as a birthday gift. Perhaps my grandmother didn’t get to see me on my birthday and she gave me the gift when she came to our house for Easter dinner. In any case, I was captivated by the beautiful artwork and the interesting story of these little beings. The matter-of-fact tone of the book and it’s format lead me to question whether gnomes really existed. Anyway, the weather that day was perfect for early spring. The snow had melted and the cold New England wind was replaced by a warm breeze out of the south that carried the fragrance of new life. The sun had begun to coax blossoms out from hiding on the tree branches around our house. It was a perfect day to be 9 years old (or 11 or whatever – I will have to check the inscription on the inside cover of the book to see just how old I was) with nothing to do all day except enjoy the outdoors and my new book.

The next memory that comes to light was also on my birthday, but it is a bit less happy. My father’s mother – who we called Meme – and I shared the same birthday. I am 90% sure that this WAS Easter sunday. My mother and grandmother had gone to Meme’s house to visit and celebrate the holidays. As we were enjoying the day, my grandmother suddenly became very ill and went to lay down on the sofa in her living room. Most of my memories from that day are jumbled, but I remember that she continued to be ill and my aunts and uncles decided to call an ambulance because she was now having chest pains as well. The paramedics arrived and took Meme to the hospital where, we soon learned, she died. It was quite a traumatic day – having gone from enjoying the birthdays to the passing of my grandmother.

It’s interesting how two such drastically different memories can exist side by side in our brains. It’s also interesting that the happier one surfaces first and only by really “digging” below the surface of the darker one can I remember the details of that day.