Easter

This was our first Easter back in Colorado in five years. Five years goes by in the blink of an eye, but so much can change and happen in five years.

For example, this pretty girl in the photo below is Hannah. She's a Wing cousin. She's actually the youngest daughter of Steven's cousin Teddy. There are a lot of Wings...and a lot of cousins. I have a majority of them figured out, and since I've been around the Wings now for about 22 years, I've known a lot of them since they were little guys. We knew Hannah when she was little. Now she's in her twenties and showing Steven pictures of designs that inspired one of her many tattoos on her iPhone. Notice the look on Steven's face. I love it.

Uncle Chuck and Pop

For a long time, the Wings celebrated Easter at Gramma Eleanor's house in Denver. The very same house on Logan Street where Steven, Maya and I used to live. Then the festivities moved to Uncle Chuck's house, but for many years now, everyone has gathered at Traci and Darrel's. Traci is one of Chuck's daughters. She's also a cousin.

Pete and Kevin 

Uncle Chuck and Dad get together a few weeks before Easter and come up with a bunch of riddles. They also buy about a gazillion lottery tickets, and when someone figures out the right answer for one of the riddles, they get a lottery ticket. Mylee won $11 this year. Many Easters ago, Donny, (who is in the blue shirt in the photo below) won something like $500. Sometimes it pays to figure out those riddles.

Scotty and Uncle K playing a game together.

We had all of our immediate family together in one spot...and there was a whole lot of other people there more than willing to get a photograph. We got a good one. Makes me miss mom...

This Easter was also Mimi's birthday. She would have been ninety this year. All of us Wings went to Crown Hill cemetery after our celebration at Traci's. I wanted to visit Mimi's grave and Dad's father is also buried there. 

I wasn't expecting to see any of my family on Easter, but it just so happens that we all decided to show up at the cemetery at the same time that day.

Me and my cousin, David

Donna, Gary, David, Natalie, Kathy, Rachel and Kyle brought flowers. There are a lot of loved ones who are buried here.

Mimi's brother Kenny, Mimi and Grandpa are all together. Donna and Gary's son, Ryan, is very close as well.

Steven got a shot of some of us girls.

When we left Crown Hill, all of us Wings drove to Parfet Park in Golden. There's been a tradition in our family, at least since I've been around and most likely much before then, to go to a park with a picnic after the extended Wing Easter celebration. We've gone to many parks over the years. I can remember playing at Washington Park in Denver and flying kites at Butterfield Park in Castle Rock. Parfet Park was very nice. There was a stream and walking paths, and plenty of sunshine.

Did I mention food? There was a lot of that, too.

Kevin says, "Bring on the grub!"

We had a great Easter.

On our way back to Colorado Springs, the weather started turning.

We got some rain and far off into the distance, I could see just a little bit of a rainbow. I kept watching it, expecting it to fade, but it didn't.

We kept driving south and it only got stronger.

After a while, we could see both ends of it, although clouds covered the center. In Castle Rock, Steven pulled over. I tried to get a photo of the whole thing but I couldn't get it all into the shot.

I kept thinking about Mimi, knowing that if there was any chance she could have sent that rainbow down to us, she would have. Maybe she did. I don't know...but in any case, it seemed very special to me.

The sky began to clear and the day came to a close. It was a wonderful day...and sad. It was bittersweet in many ways, and I know it's an Easter I'll never forget.