louannhoman.com

April 11, 2004 - Easter Sunday

Dear Family,
Easter Sunday, April 11. Tonight I sit at my Mom's computer an hour north of Houston, Texas in Montgomery...and an hour away from the famous little town of Cut and Shoot. It is cool and rainy with storms coming in last night to blow away the warm air and replace it with typical Indiana spring weather.....so I feel right at home. Mom and Dad are in the living room, and I can hear their voices as they talk about the day. It is so different to visit parents as a grown up. It is also very special for me. Being the oldest of six children I always had to share everything from sweaters to cupcakes to bathwater to parents, and for a few days I have them all to myself. It is nice to sleep in (that alone is a luxury) and to wander into the kitchen finding them reading the paper... drinking the morning coffee. I used to love going to sleep as a child, leaving my bedroom door cracked as I listened to their voices sharing the events of the day..that is comforting for a child.

We have spent the past few days sharing stories, watching the birds and squirrels at their feeders and of course, today, sharing our table with the Texas brothers and sisters. Those who couldn't make it telephoned so I was able to speak with all of my brothers and sisters today. Our lives are so different. Six children. Six locations. Six different life styles.

It is also nice to get to know the Texas nieces and nephews a bit better also: Jordan, Nicholas, Kenne, and Amanda. They all have a bit of the southern drawl, and even though we only see each other a once or twice a year, we are drawn to each other as family.

Easter memories are fun to recall...the year I took them all across town for an egg hunt and then couldn't find our way back, the year Mom made all of us girls new coats and it snowed and snowed, Adam and Aaron's first Easter in Pennsylvania it was so hot we had to go buy a cheap little plastic pool to put them in to cool them off.

Dinner is traditional too...ham, potatoes, deviled eggs with a wee bit of sugar, apple pie, corn Saylor...Lee in Colorado and Jo in Indiana had the same dinners.

Tradition. Family. I have to travel to find it as the House at White Picket Gardens is void of both most of the time. I have not been there much the past few weeks...but the occasional day that I am there I am not alone as I have a resident bat, Omar. Hopefully by now he has flown out the trap door that the bat man installed. I can only hope so as he has been living in the cellar where I am supposed to do my laundry. I may own many new clothes soon! I also noticed in the few days that I have been home that spring daffodils now line the fence and other spring flowers will soon be sharing the yard.

Sunday Passage is two years old with this letter. Where did the two years go? I remember sitting on the beach with my dear friend Amy telling her I wanted my children to know a little bit more about me...and we came up with the idea. Thank you, Amy. Thank you all for your encouragement in keeping it going.

As I told you before it will be on line within the next couple of weeks. The last two issues will be available on line if you did not get them. I hope to put all the past issues on eventually...or in booklet form!!

My room here in Texas is lovely. It is the color of a forest on a summer day with a cozy quilt and large windows that lets the morning sun dance. There is art on the walls...there are dolls...candles...lamps for reading...and a lovely framed piece of writing, "Time, like a snowflake, disappears while we are trying to decided what to do with it."

To all of your on this rainy Sunday night from Texas, Happy Easter....a wish for warm rains and gentle winds...and until we meet again, my thoughts and wishes for happiness I send across the night sky. Lou Ann

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