April 11, 2020: Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday Batman! I loved that show, the Batman series with Adam West… BAM, POW, ZAP, THWACK! All the villains on there were so good too. Yeah, the Batman with Michael Keaton was great too; that was one of the best movie going experiences I ever had. I liked the 2nd one in that series too, with the Penguin. After that, there was the whole series of flicks with Christian Bale as Batman; they were good too. Dark Knight was my favorite out of all of them. All the scenes downtown where I work every day, including Batman driving up the building I work in today… cool to see on the big screen. Where was I going with this?

Oh yeah, Holy Saturday.. something else I look back on fondly. Going to a Catholic school my whole life, Holy Week in general was pretty big… heck, the entire 40 days of Lent were too. Once we got to Holy Week though, that’s when we knew Lent was almost over, and everything we had given up for the last 40 days was about to be done. As kids, we’d give up things like pizza, we’d do more chores around the house by picking from this group of eggs with tasks on there. As I got older, I would give up alcohol during this time; I gave it up this year as well… it’s a good break; we all need those breaks. No sweets, no pop, push ups everyday were all part of my list this year. But back to the week before Easter; I really enjoy Palm Sunday which kicks it off. Then there’s Holy Thursday; we would visit the neighborhood churches growing up. Good Friday was a service at church; the big thing in my neighborhood was the Way of the Cross which was acted out. But Holy Saturday, that was always my favorite.

Holy Saturday meant Lent was over for one. We would celebrate that evening with a night of partying; I remember winning a lot of money one year playing cards that evening. This day also meant the blessing of the Easter baskets, and lunch at the house. With ham on rye, hard boiled eggs, polish sausage, and the famous Lamb Cakes my Mom would make, it was a delicious spread shared together with the family. When my grandmother’s sister was alive, we would stop at her house down the block; she was a saint I swear. Yes, great memories on this day.

This time around would be weird. With everybody still on lock down, everyone was unable to get together, but we still picked up the food. The three of us came back to the house and enjoyed it, along with the first bottle of wine for my wife and I in 40 days. Now all that was left was Easter Sunday, which again, would be one of the strangest in history with the state of the world. Yet, my wife, son, and I would still be together, and for that, I am truly grateful. Happy Easter!