Friday, April 10, 2009

SEPARATION, CONFESSION AND ATONEMENT

THE WORSE DAY OF MY LIFE, EASTER 1966


Yes, Easter has been a tough holiday for me.

In 1961 I was a pariah because I found the Grand Prize Giant Easter Bunny.
In 1962 I took part in the slaughter, disposal and cover-up of the senseless murder of a little pink baby chick, as told here.
The worse was yet to come…

The year after Dan and I murdered my sisters little Easter Chick, my family moved to Detroit. In 1966 we flew to Texas for vacation at Easter time. Our return flight back to Detroit was late in the day on Easter Sunday.
My little sister, who 4 years prior had lost that poor little chick, was about to pay me back for the vile deed.
Early Easter morning she went to the little nest that our mom and dad always had us make to find what the Easter Bunny had left.
There was a huge yellow Easter Basket, about 4 feet tall, with all that fake green grass spilling out, and all those marshmallow Rabbits, and Candy Eggs, Stuffed Bunnies, with little feathered bird-toys going all around the handle, all wrapped in clear-green cellophane.
It was enormous, totally cute and bigger than she was.

It could not be checked as baggage, and it was way too big for my sister to carry.
Do you know what that meant?
It was time to atone for the murder of that Baby Chick 4 years earlier.
I had to carry that Basket through the Airport and onto the plane!
I was 10 years old, all boy and I’d rather have died a thousand deaths than to carry that pastel pink and yellow nightmare.
Sweet Weepin' Jesus.
I was embarrassed, I was pissed, and what I found was that if I tilted that basket the wrong way music would play right out of one of those stuffed bunnies arses.

“Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity-Hoppity
Easters on its way”

I was daggers!
Daggers!
DAGGERS!

Women and little girls in line to board would compliment me on what a nice Easter Basket I had.
It seemd like the whle Airport was smiling at me.
I would scowl. I was almost in tears. I wanted to kill somebody.
DAGGERS!
And when I looked to my Mother, she would just give me that look like I better not say a thing.
I could not wait for this plane to hippity-hoppity off the ground and land in Detroit.
But that would prove to be too good to be true.

What I found, as part of my atonement for the sins of Easter Past, was that we had a three-hour layover in the lobby at Chicago O’Hare!
DAGGERS!

It was the worse day of my life.

9 comments:

Barbara said...

What we do for those we LOVE! A fitting payback, I'd say.

bulletholes said...

Barb, it wasn't until this last year that I considered that the two events may have been linked in a kosmik kinda way!
Blessings and Peace to you this Pesach
Is that right?

cornbread hell said...

personally, i think you still owe her one. at least one.

bulletholes said...

yOU KNOW, CORNBREAD ALL THE ATONEMENT IN THE WORLD WON'T HELP THAT LITTLE CHICKY!

cornbread hell said...

all the more reason to give her one more positive gesture?

bulletholes said...

I told her this story on the phone about two months ago...I tell it way funnier than I write it and we laughed so hard!!!
Daggers!

Waterbaby said...

I wish I could record Daddy telling a story on here for yall to hear, but I can never tell when a story is coming on! When I first heard the story about the pink chicky, I think I cried and considered not speaking to Daddy for a few days. :( serves you right!

bulletholes said...

Yes, baby you cried and your mother was horrified that I would tell you that story.
I love you!

GrizzBabe said...

Ha! Nice revenge.