I was talking to a friend the other day when she casually mentioned she needed to go purchase some Easter shoes.

I smiled.

“I got mine last weekend,” I replied.

Easter’s a unique holiday. In my family, it’s roots were always decidedly religious. We woke Easter morning, went to church and then to my grandmother’s for Easter dinner. That was the routine and one that essentially continues until this day.

There was, however, the other elements, such as the Easter Bunny and the inexplicable desire to go and purchase new clothes, that accompanied the holiday. And while the Easter Bunny was fun when we were little (though there was the one time I ate so much chocolate I got sick and couldn’t go to church), the secular side of the holiday  was dominated by the search for Easter attire.

Such attire was usually complicated, featuring frills and bows that weren’t sported on an average Sunday. A typical Easter Sunday outfit included white patent leather shoes, a purse and, sometimes, even a hat.

“An Easter bonnet,” my dad would call it, thought I had no idea what that meant when I was young. I just liked the idea of getting to wear a pink hat.

Such habits die slowly. While I have not purchased a new purse or an Easter bonnet for myself this year, I did make sure the family’s outfits were ready for the big day. 

Sutton’s Easter attire includes a sweet, pale green dress with smocked bunnies across the front. She has new socks, white patent leather shoes and an Easter hair bow. 

And a purse, of course. In fact, she and I spent an afternoon at the mall searching for the perfect small, white patent leather purse.

“You know she think that’s just for carrying candy to church,” Greg said when we showed him our purchase.

“Doesn’t matter,” I replied. “Little girls need a purse for Easter.”

And so, the tradition continues. 

This Sunday, we will join the other people at church to mark the wondrous occasion that is Easter. In this era of contemporary worship and preachers in blue jeans, there will – and should be – all sorts of attire at the Sunday service. 

But for me and mine, it just wouldn’t be Easter without a frilly dress, white shoes and a patent leather purse. And, maybe by next year, we can add an Easter bonnet, too.