The notice came home from school. Twelve plastic eggs were needed, and each was to be filled with our choice of small coins, candy, erasers, stickers, or any other small toy. They were to be stuffed and taped closed, and returned to school for an Easter activity that would take place.

Thinking that this would be an easy task, I made my way to Hannaford, and sought out the seasonal aisle. “I must be missing something,” I thought: no plastic eggs! Scanning the shelves top to bottom, I was perplexed: “Is this all there is? Something’s missing!”

The assistant manger came my way, and I inquired: Am I blind? It seems, a week before Easter, you shouldn’t be out of such basic stuff. Equally perplexed, he scanned the shelves. And added his observation, not only were there no plastic eggs, there also was no grass! “We won’t sell Easter baskets without selling grass,” he said. He told me to do the rest of my shopping, and he would solve the mystery of the missing Easter essentials.

My shopping was complete, except for the missing Easter items. As I made my way to the check out, the assistant manager found me. “They didn’t send us any this year!” he said. No problem, I thought, I’ll just go next door. Surely, the dollar store would have this item.

But, the dollar store was a disappointment too. “They haven’t come in yet,” said the clerk. I haven’t got time to wait, was my thought. Suddenly, this seemingly easy task wasn’t so easy after all.

I went home, and dug through my seasonal box of decorating supplies, and found 12 eggs. I also pulled out my bags of grass saved from each year’s Easter baskets. Good thing I recycle, I thought, otherwise there would be no eggs or grass.

The purest that I am, I really don’t like the plastic eggs and the fake grass. It is, however, a kid thing, and there’s no avoiding it. My thriftiness has been oriented toward making the extra effort to save and re-use, rather than throw out and re-buy each year. The stuff is certainly cheap and abundant and the cycle of buying, using, and throwing out, is the easy way out.

My ideals had lapsed and I knew it when the search had begun. But I was in a hurry, and I wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible. Who’d of thought that a mass grocery retailer would bring me in line, and the smaller retailer that encourages spontaneous consumption was right there for back up. It almost seemed impossible!

But so bent was I on getting the job done quickly, that my thought process continued without the eggs in hand. For months I’ve been driving around with an over-flowing ash tray of pennies. Pennies in the car serve no use, and I had made up my mind that this whole job of stuffing the eggs could have been done without even going home. If only I had the eggs!

So, after rummaging through my Easter supplies of years past, I was determined to clean out the pennies in my ash tray. I brought the eggs in the car, and when I had some spare moments of waiting for kids, I stuffed the eggs. The eggs were in constant stop and go mode and the experience wasn’t at all enjoyable.

I began to ask myself: Why not sit down and enjoy the activity? I brought the remaining eggs in and said the heck with the pennies, the rest are getting jelly beans. My thoughts had transitioned.

As I stuffed those eggs, I thought of the egg and its significance with Easter. The egg is a symbol of fertility and new life. Easter calls us to a new life. In my rushing to find the easy way out, and stuff the eggs with what was worthless to me, I had missed the entire point of the significance of what Easter is all about!

I’ve given up on the hunt for the plastic eggs this year. Dye kits are everywhere, and there are plenty of white eggs. Perhaps this Easter we’re just destine to take the extra time to enjoy the true egg in the purest form, died and decorated with beautiful colors and designs. Happy Easter!