Back To Life

Dad loves getting me up early.

Jesus was resurrected for his courage on the cross. Or he wasn't. Christian philosophy is more interesting to me than the mythology. I read the Bible like any other philosophy book. I am without faith, not an atheist. When you're broke you're without money, not against it. So I guess I'm spiritually broke. Today the theists are making it rain, but for me, Easter is about my Dad.

Just as I was getting too old to search for eggs, my Dad took me on a business trip to a tiny city in rural Nevada where the McDonald's was the happening place for kids to hang out. The job took longer than anticipated. We'd expected to be home in time to celebrate, but we were stuck. After working a ten hour day, he searched every grocery store in the town for candy to fill an Easter Basket. Trouble is, I hated chocolate. He found every shape of chocolate, but he knew that I liked sour candy. So on he searched. It must have been around 7PM when he finally got back to the motel because the second episode of The Simpsons was on.

He walked in with a bowl of Warheads, Sour Patch Kids, gum and a single chocolate bunny. I broke off the ear and filled the bunny with milk like I always did. It took a decade for me to appreciate what a gesture it was. At the time I was happy to get candy, almost entitled to it. Never thought about how my Dad made holidays about us and our traditions: crab legs on Christmas and Rocky IV on Thanksgiving. During my vegetarian phase, he made Tofurky even though he couldn't stand it. Though who really enjoys that shit?

I don't know anything about Jesus' struggle on the cross, or what it means to be resurrected, but I know my Dad loves me. He'd never let me suffer unless he thought it built character. He'd jump into oncoming traffic to keep me from stubbing my toe. Easter is about spending time with my Dad. And this is only the second time I haven't gotten an Easter Basket full of non-chocolates. I'm going to stop at the corner store and get some Sour Punch Straws for the both of us.