Too Much of a Hurry

By Diane Hopkins

I knew it was going to be a special day for Owen. Not only was it his fifth birthday party, which he could hardly stand the wait any longer since his birthday was on Wednesday and he had yet to get any of his really special presents, but it was also the day before Easter. We had been seeing the sign everyday for a few weeks about the Easter Egg Hunt that was going on at our neighborhood park. The Easter Egg hunt was to start at 10:00 and the birthday party was at 12:00 so while his mother was home preparing for the party it was up to me, his "Nonnie" to take him to the Easter egg hunt, if he was going to attend. Along with several of the neighbors and Owen's best playmates, we went to the hunt. When we got there we found it wasn't a simple hunt at all, but more like a mini-carnival with games such as a bean bag toss, face painting, balloons games, and many more. It was a very festive atmosphere and it was going to be lots of fun. I was a little worried however, when I heard that the hunt wasn't going to start till almost 11:00.since as we were walking out the door I hear my husband saying, Yea. We'll go to Costco and pick up the cake and pizzas. I figured it was worth the trouble so we waited for the hunt to begin.


The children were divided up into age groups and the organizers had announced that there was 5000 eggs so there should be lots for everyone. The big thing about the eggs though is, on a special table there were eight huge baskets full of toys and goodies, made up for the lucky ones that found the eight eggs with a silly face drawn on them. The children lined up waiting for signal to go. It was a mad dash, but Owen came running back with several of the eggs and proudly displayed his catch. I briefly looked in his basket, gave his the "great job" , pat on the back, and away we went.

As were talking to the neighbors and hurrying along our way, I hear the announcement that we are still looking for one more "special" egg, that only seven have been claimed, but it still didn't motivate me to look any closer, after all what are the odds.

Well, come Monday morning after the excitement of the party, Easter bunny, and all the fun packed into the week-end. Owen keeps mentioning to me, that he had a egg with a funny face drawn on it. Me, still doubting, brush it off to "wishful thinking" since all the children there would have loved to taken home one of those special baskets. You can only imagine how I felt several days later when I think to ask his mother, "so did Owen have a egg with a face drawn on it?" , and her reply was "Yea, why?"