A very special Easter surprise…
Mavis Raper remembers a particular childhood Easter that didn’t bring the expected treats…
Easter was always a special time for my sister and me. We were given new clothes and Easter bonnets, specially to be photographed in our grandparents’ garden. Mother coloured paste eggs and we raced them by rolling them down the hill where the air-raid shelter used to be, to find out which had won. If we were good we were bought a chocolate egg, which was very special as rationing was still in force. They were happy days with lots of love, laughter and sunshine. Then suddenly the year when I was four years old, everything was different. We were sitting quietly in the dining room when Dad made the following announcement. “We will not be going to your grandparents house this year, instead we will be staying at home. We will have a special surprise for you both instead.” We lived in a terrace house with the front door opening straight on to the street. There was a long yard with a coal house and toilet at the bottom and a gate which opened onto a back lane. My father rarely had time to play with us as he was always busy working long hours, and my mother looked after everything at home. When Easter arrived, we were all excited about our promised surprise. My sister and I kept guessing what it would be, hoping it would be chocolate eggs. That day Mum had gone upstairs to rest and we were both playing games on the kitchen mat. Dad came home from work and hurriedly popped upstairs to see mother. When he came down, instead of sitting in his usual armchair, he suggested we went outside to enjoy the fresh air and play cricket and football. It was so surprising as we had never played games with Dad before, but he was great fun. We ran back and forward, enjoying every minute of the sport. Dad brought out glasses of lemonade and spoke firmly. “It is sad we won’t be going to Grandma’s this year, but instead I have a special surprise for you.” My sister and I knew what the surprise would be as we had been specially well-behaved. “I know what it is,” I proudly whispered to my sister. “It will be a really big chocolate egg. Yummy, yummy.” We washed our hands and followed Dad upstairs to see Mother. We knew Dad wanted to tell her how good we had been. It was a great surprise to see a lady standing at the bedroom door in a blue and white uniform. “Look what we have for you both,” she pointed to Mum who was holding a red-faced crying bundle in her arms. “It’s your special surprise,” smiled Mother, who was lying in her bed. “This is your new baby brother.” I was so disappointed I started crying. “What are you crying for?” asked Mum. “I don’t want a brother, I would rather have an Easter egg,” I sobbed. The baby was crying, the nurse looked annoyed and Dad left the room. Suddenly Mum put her arm round me. “I love you and so does your baby brother. He is proud to have you as his big sister and in a few weeks we will take him to show Grandma. We will take photographs, roll paste eggs and have hot cross buns, I promise.” Then Dad came back into the room with a large carrier bag. He lifted out two huge chocolate eggs with coloured sweeties. Yes, it certainly was a special Easter surprise.
It was a surprise to see a lady in a blue and white uniform at the bedroom door