Easter Joy

I missed the joy and the glory of Easter this year.
Normally I look forward to the pure joy of the resurrection of Christ. Particularly after a long and arduous Lent. I expect to feel renewed.

This year – I got nothing. I was scheduled to work all day Sunday and it really messed with my joy. You’re not supposed to work on Easter. You’re not supposed to put other people in a position to work on Easter. Remember the days when everything was closed on Sundays? No one DREAMED of being open on Sunday, much less a significant religious holiday!

Anyway, I woke up annoyed that I had to work as soon as Easter Mass was over and it was all downhill from there!

I stayed at Mr. Burns house Saturday night since we were going to Mass at his church. When he heard me go into the bathroom and saw the light under the door, he greeted me through the door… “Good Morning!” I couldn’t muster much and only managed “Hi.” But if you’d heard it, you would have cracked up as Mr. Burns did. It was a short, whiney ‘hi’, like that from the mouth of a four year old who had been waken from deep slumber and had his favorite teddy bear taken away! As soon as it came out my mouth, we both cracked up. It was so pathetic!

Then we drove separate cars to church so I could go straight to work from Mass. I got there ahead of time so we could be assured seats. When I arrived there seemed to be plenty of room but appearances were deceiving as the one person in each pew was trying to save the entire row! ( don't get me started on how wrong this practice is!)

I went to the pew where we usually sit. There was a little old lady on the opposite end and a man with a baby in a car seat on the end where Mr. Burns and I normally sit. He looked at me and spread his jacket out further indicating that he needed the space. I looked in the rows ahead, seeing people I recognized, knowing how many people they were expecting. I turned back to the man with the baby and said, “My boyfriend is the lector. We need to be close.” He moved over, it seemed to me he rationalized that we were just two people.

A few minutes later, his sister found him. The two of them and the baby got up to leave, his sister excusing herself passed me saying, “Our family is too big.” Well then I felt bad, but they were already off. The pews around us had filled in further and I don’t know where they went to.

I felt really bad. But then I reasoned… a person can only be expected to save one, maybe two seats. If you need 15 seats, bring 5 people to save them!

Then Mr. Burns arrived, knelt next to me to pray then got back up to arrange the scripture book and consult with the priest and deacons. So there I was, trying to save a seat as the church got packed. People moved into my pew and filled it… and I still had my space and one for Mr. Burns. Then I had to start turning people away. I hate doing that. Suddenly I was really irritated with Mr. Burns for leaving me alone in our seats.

By the time he finally came and sat down I was super irritated. So Easter was off to a lousy start.
Throughout Mass my mind jumped from the strain in my relationship with Mr. Burns to the job interview I had the next day to all myriad of things. Ugh. I realized that I was unhappy.

Unhappy on Easter.

Mr. Burns walked me to my car after Mass and asked if I was okay. I burst into tears. I told him I just didn’t feel happy. On top of that my stomach was growling and I realized that since I was the only one scheduled to work that I wouldn’t be able to take a break and get food. Super ugh. So off to work I went, unhappy and hungry.

I got to work and opened the store. The server was down so immediately I was on the phone with Tech Support. What a great Easter.

Suddenly I looked up and there was Mr. Burns with a lunch cooler full of snacks for me. He brought me a sausage sandwich… his breakfast specialty… a sausage patty between an English muffin. ( It would be remiss not to mention that it's the special way that he butters the muffin that makes it so great.) He also made Shells and Cheese for lunch. And packed a bag of corn chips for a snack and some Dove chocolates for dessert. He prepared all this neglecting to make breakfast for himself!

And did I mention he had to drive 12 miles just to bring it me before turning around and driving another 12 back to make breakfast for himself? What a guy!

Suddenly the day was better and some of my joy had returned.