Maybe little girls aren't able to focus on the spiritual side of Easter but the new dress, hat and shoes are great memories.  Of course since women and girls rarely wear hats anymore, that may be difficult to relate to these days.  But those of us "of a certain age" as the adage goes remember the excitement of actually getting to wear a hat just like the gown up women did!  Wow.  And of course, that ribbon coming down the back of the hat had to match the dress.  So, there were many colors of ribbons on those little hats.

    The dresses for Easter were much fancier than just everyday dresses that we wore to school.  (Yes, we really did wear dresses EVERY SINGLE DAY!)  The Easter dresses were made of fabric that was softer, frillier and just more girly than everyday dresses.  I remember one in particular that had little fanned sleeves and a wide fabric belt.  Wow.  Was I ever the princess.

    Mary Jane shoes, although coming back now, were considered the very best kind of shoes we could have.  Patent leather or white were the ideal.  Last years shoes although hardly worn out, wouldn't fit a year later so we waited for Easter to get our new pair.  The clerk at the shoe store helped us put on the shoes and we sometimes got to put our feet in the x-ray machine to be sure the shoes fit.

    But then, the most  exciting part of Easter came.  Our whole family went to church together.  Most of the other families we knew were there too and it was great to see the church filled up.  I will never forget how safe I felt sitting next to my father in church.  I hope that every little girl can remember the blessings of family at Easter.