Growing up in Southern Louisiana’s Catholic community, Easter carried the same weight as Christmas. Easter morning meant two things: a brand-new set of dress clothes for Mass and a basket filled with candy. Some of the wealthier kids even received expensive gifts, making the morning feel like Christmas all over again.
The new Easter clothes usually consisted of shoes, pants, and a dress shirt that always seemed itchy and uncomfortable. The basket was filled with Elmer’s candy and one large chocolate bunny. Elmer’s is a mom-and-pop chocolatier from the small town of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Although they are not known nationally, their chocolate was what every kid was hoping to find in their Easter basket.
Once the morning excitement was over, we piled into the trucks and headed to church for the hour-long Easter Mass. By that time of year, the Louisiana heat and humidity had already begun to settle in, and the mosquitoes were out in full force and hungry. While we were at church, a few adults stayed behind to hide the eggs we had decorated the night before. They also hid plastic eggs filled with money. I had two wealthy uncles who were famous for slipping five, ten, or even twenty-dollar bills into those plastic eggs. Those eggs were the real prizes and the ones my cousins and I fought over. The most money I ever collected from the egg hunt was forty-five dollars. Serious money for a kid in the 70’s and 80’s.
After church and the Easter egg hunt, everyone gathered in the dining room for the big midday meal. Traditional dishes like baked ham and turkey filled the table, alongside regional favorites like crawfish etouffee, jambalaya, and boudin. The food was plentiful, loud conversation filled the room, and no one left the table hungry.
When the meal was over, you could find me outside with my cousins playing a game of football. No family gathering with my cousins could be complete without playing football and having the inevitable fights that would break out. Our family is known for its fleet of workboats servicing the oil industry along the Gulf Coast, and on a few special occasions, we took one of the boats out into the Gulf of Mexico to fish for red snapper as the Easter celebration wound down.
Easter along the Gulf Coast meant faith, family, food, football, fishing, and plenty of heat and mosquitoes. They are great memories.