Easter

Easter Sunday in Connecticut.
My sister Eileen and I get up about 4:30 AM and swallow a pot of coffee. Bill is up a few minutes later. Soon everyone is preparing for the feast. We drive through back roads lined with tall bare trees hiding homes on green hills. Rumors of spring are everywhere. The ubiquitous Forsythia explodes in Chinese yellow in every yard. Families are arriving at homes along the way. Young parents are out photographing their children. The kids are done up in the latest Easter attire. Family is big in Connecticut.
Food is very different. The old Italian treats are staples of the holidays. Pizza Gain or Pizzagaina is an egg-based concoction of diced ham, pepperoni and cheese. Rice pie is like a cheesecake made with rice. There was a ricotta-based bundt-shaped pineapple upside-down cake. Yes, it was decorated with maraschino cherries. And ambrosia with Easter pastel mini-marshmallows followed the meal. Chocolate eggs, purple peeps, jellybeans and Easter Reeses were in bowls everywhere. I contributed to the Italian theme by introducing everyone to the Cocktail Sorrento.
My sisters are way fun but I was also taken by their husbands whom I have had little contact with in the past. They are mostly foils for their wives sarcasm [the pride of the Coyle family] but at times they hold their own and transform the comedy fest to sidesplitting hilarity. I hesitate to admit that I think I may have caught the “family bug” on this adventure. Billy Junior came home from Nazareth College and actually engaged freely with the rest of us; he was a bit standoffish last visit perhaps embarrassed by the rampant silliness perpetrated by his mother and aunts. Nieces, Heather and Allison chimed in via phone and text. We got back to Cheshire in time to watch both women’s basketball games… and more rice pie. Great day