Sometimes, going back is good for the soul.

Easter Sunday... a day that in and of itself is so wonderful. It is a day that my family always celebrates together. A day of prayer and family and food and laughter that fills the soul with life. Each year, 100 plastic eggs, filled with yummies, are tossed all over a half acre of land. The "kids", ages 1 year old all the way to 35, run outside and search for the eggs with their names on them. They stuff them in their bag and with gihugic smiles, race across the fields to find more. I have watched and walked with my children for 30 years as they gathered eggs and ate candies until dinner was Not something they were going to eat. I love it, as do all my siblings and their children and grand-children. My parents, 78 years old and married 58 years, also watch and smile as the screeches and laughter fill their house. Could it get any better???
 This year, I was given the answer to that very question. My youngest daughter, my niece and my nephew announced during dinner that there was to be a change this year. They had made up and were going to hide Easter eggs for the Parents and we would go find eggs this year. At first, we were all unsure of this idea. Not to be put off, the kids were insistent that we experience what They have experienced for 23 years. there would be the adults and "little" kids searching for eggs this year. We hid ourselves away behind closed curtains and drawn shades as the eggs were hidden across the acreage. Then we all headed outside and began looking for our own eggs, this time, our children watching US search. As I walked through the grass and picked up eggs, I found myself feeling younger by the minute. I smiled and called out "I found another one" as I dropped it in my bag. I stopped to pick one up, then opened it, as I had seen My daughters do for more years than I can count. They smiled at me and I smiled back. Not just any smile, but a smile that came from deep with-in my soul.
 I sit here today, writing about the experience. It was 42 years ago that I had my Last Easter egg hunt for me. I can hear the voices of my children, their snickering at the fact that I had just walked by one of my eggs and not seen it. the sounds of their talking and laughter filled the air and my heart with joy beyond explanation. I laughed out loud and thought to myself what a wonderful gift these kids had given to us. For a moment, for just an hour or so, we were all 10 years old again. We were there, walking side by side with the kids that had given to us our youth back for the day. They had gifted us with something that far to often we lose somewhere along the path of life. I can not convey to you what it meant to me. I can not sufficiently describe the emotions that welled up inside of me as I broke open a plastic egg and ate the tiny candy bar that it held inside.
 Today, I thank my daughter and my niece and nephew for loving us enough to give back something we don't get to hold very often. I feel the wetness of tears as I write. Not tears of sadness, tears of joy and of knowing that for just an hour or so, I was a kid again. A kid that went searching for an Easter egg... and found the egg filled with Youth. To Shannon and Becca and Mattie I say "Thank you" from the deepest and warmest parts of my soul. "God Bless You" always for this.
 And to you, the reader, I say get out there and grab your youth. It is still there, tucked under a tree branch or ladder or blade of grass. Don't let it go to far away from you. It really is a fantastic feeling inside.