For some reason today actually truly feels like Easter Monday. This feeling has not come over me for years! It’s a feeling as much as a memory. Maybe it has something to do with being 84 years old. I can’t remember everything like I use to, but those things I do remember have become more vivid in my mind. I remember we use to go to either Mammy Sis’s (Rebecca Harvey) or my Great Aunt Mariah’s house (Mariah Baugham) for the big Easter Egg hunt on Easter Monday. All of us cousins gathered were the grandchildren of William and Rebecca Harvey.

So many of the younger cousins of my Aunts and Uncles were there. It was a tradition that had lasted many years. We ranged from toddlers to teenagers. Some of the many cousins I remember were all the Baughams from Aunt Mariah’s family: Maurice, Wendell, Pap, Geraldine, Flora, Margaret Suba, and Baby Nut. Then there were the Harvey’s from various branches of the tree. My Uncle Herman Harvey’s family were Zelma, Mildred (Monk), Joe Red, Dot, Herbert, and Cora Willie. Then there was Uncle Russell Harvey’s family: Nelda, Randy, Edla, and Jasper. From Uncle Daniel Harvey’s family were Callie, Earl, and McCoy. From Aunt Temps family there was Rudisil, Lola, L.P, and Annie Mae. Aunt Mae Harvey Ray’s family were Lucille, Tap, and Doris. From Henry Harvey’s branch, (my Daddy) were me and my sisters, Flora and Jurdy.

While it was a lot of fun hunting down the eggs, the best part of Easter Monday was that we got to eat the first homemade ice cream of the season! Such fond memories!
Love You!
Written by
Lois Harvey Jones
Santa Rosa, CA