(Editor's Notes by Christina Myer - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

I was talking with a colleague the other day about the differences in the way families celebrate Easter — and the differences between how most of us celebrated back when we were kids and today.

For me, it was a new dress, maybe a new hat and shoes, a church service, a big fancy meal at Grandma’s and MAYBE a little bit of candy and a few trinkets in a small plastic Easter basket filled with weird green “grass.”

Easter egg hunts didn’t really become a family tradition until my niece and nephew were born.

But by then, there were also large Easter baskets filled with gifts to rival Christmas, on my mother’s side table after she had prepared the annual meal.

My colleague does not recall getting much of anything for Easter, but also was surprised to learn that there were songs traditionally sung in church specifically on Easter. He understood the religious significance, but for him, it was more a secular celebration even back then.

Now, he pointed out, it has become another one of the major gift-giving, candy-eating holidays that seems to be more about how much money can be spent than the origins of the celebration.

It’s kind of a shame, really, but retailers can’t be blamed for taking advantage when the opportunity presents itself.

In thinking about those Easter songs, I started to tell him about one Easter I remember during which my sister and I had been asked to sing at an outdoor sunrise service. There I was — an awkward teenager in a yellow dress (I can’t remember exactly what my sister had on, but I’m guessing it was pink or white) — shivering away because it was the kind of Easter morning that had all those hardy souls who attended the sunrise service bundled up in their winter coats, gloves and hats.

That’s what I remember. Being cold. Not the song, not the rest of the service. Just wondering how in the world I was going to be able to croak out a song in this weather.

But we must have. And it must not have gone horribly, because I think I’d remember that.

It’s sticking in my mind now, though, because I see the weather Sunday morning could be a bit chilly and drizzly. And I’m wondering if there are any young people out there thinking “Oh no, how am I supposed to sing in that?!”

Frankly, the prospect of singing indoors on a holiday such as Easter can be a bit daunting, too. But, one thing I can tell them confidently, as it was a constant throughout my years of being asked to sing in churches — you’ll have help.

I’m sure my mother could attest to the miracle of me and my sister being able to get along well enough to sing duets when we were younger, in the first place. But then, for us to be able to perform well enough to get asked to do it more than once? Divine intervention, indeed.

It’s the kind of thing we all should bear in mind this weekend (and all the time, really). We have help; and sometimes, when we are meant to be the help for someone else. Christians don’t celebrate the resurrection because we’re supposed to leave one another to our own devices and look out for number one.

We celebrate because the message that was confirmed that day is that we are not alone. Because we know we have light and hope, we must also be light and hope for others. If Easter has become a holiday all about baskets full of gifts, then that is a pretty amazing gift.

Carry a little Easter grass around in your pocket and toss it in the air like confetti if it makes you feel more at ease about giving it.

And, however you celebrate, have a happy Easter!

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com