A Joyous Eastertide

Some of you may recall that at the end of 2020, I decided that, like a Christian speaker I'd heard, I wanted to be "defiantly joyful" in the year ahead. That is such an interesting goal, because I've had several opportunities lately to put this into practice. As my town recovers from the devastating tornado last week, I've been so moved by the positive attitudes of those who seem to have lost everything in the storm, but really, they haven't. Like a pastor's wife I know. Last week, her home was totally destroyed in the tornado, but she got someone to go back and see if a favorite piece of artwork was still anywhere around, and there it hung on one of the barely standing walls of the house, the sheet music to the wonderful old hymn "It Is Well With My Soul." And she continues to tell everyone that it is still well with her soul! (Sure makes my minor gripes this week seem awfully petty by comparison!) So with that type of "defiant joyfulness" in mind, I want to share another vintage tea-themed postcard I recently found. I have several different versions of this image, but this one against the background of the cross is definitely my favorite!

Dated April 9, 1909, it reads: "Dear Laura, I know it is awful that I have not written but I haven't written scarcely any letters this winter - only to my mother. I got a chicken bone in my throat day after Christmas and had a bad time (with?) I don't feel any too good now. Hope you are all well. How is Clifford? I hope you all will have a very pleasant Easter. I will try and write a letter before long, but really this winter I don't seem to have any time between one thing and another. Write again to us. Lovingly, Ida." (Do I just have a warped sense of humor for finding it funny that poor Ida got ill from choking on a chicken bone but then sends an Easter postcard featuring … chickens?)

At any rate, like Ida and the Easter chicks, I wish you all a Joyous Eastertide!