Written by our Founder and CEO, our Celebrations Pulse Sunday Letters aim to engage with our community. From sharing stories to welcoming your ideas, we want to help you to express, connect, and celebrate the important people in your life.
We love spring, the season when nature bursts back to life from its long winter slumber. Animals emerge from hibernation amid blooming trees and flowers. Lengthening days eat into the hours of night. The long slog of winter gives way to the sun’s warm embrace and the promise of summer.
Sprinkled into the season are great occasions that mark resurrection and rebirth. We’re talking, of course, about the upcoming holidays Easter and Passover. Today, Palm Sunday, kicks off Holy week. It’s no accident that two of the world’s major religions celebrate renewal and hope amid nature’s return to life.
For Christians, Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus, the defeat of death, and the hope of salvation. It’s celebrated with a host of spring-like symbols, ranging from bunnies and baskets full of candy to colorful eggs and flowers. It culminates with a traditional Easter dinner, often with ham or lamb.
The celebration of Passover recalls the suffering of the Israelites, their liberation from slavery, their rebirth as a free people, and their renewal of faith. It’s also marked with a ceremonial dinner, or Seder. It includes the retelling of the biblical story and features the Passover plate of symbolic foods.
Our friends at Harry & David’s The Table recently published articles that explore the food traditions of Easter and Passover as well as their common connection with the arrival of spring.
How connection is a common thread
Food plays an important role in these springtime festivities, but it’s not the main point. The meals’ purpose is to bring people together, to give us something to gather around as we renew our faith, our commitment to our shared values, and to our relationship with others.
As boys many years ago, we always knew it was Easter when our Uncle Arthur and his family visited our Queens home from Rhode Island. Easter was usually the only time we saw them. To this day, we still think about him and his family – and how their reconnecting with them made the holiday even more special for our family.
If you are lucky enough to still have these special people in your life, whether you still celebrate together or have moved away, use your power. Let the people who have made your Easter and Passover special know what they mean to you.
The connections that take place over holiday feasts is even more important today. Even before the pandemic-induced separations, thanks to busy lives, many of us spend too little time enjoying family meals. We eat at our desks at work, in our cars during our commute, or in front of the TV. Passover and Easter – like Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas – give us a reason to step back and enjoy each other’s company, strengthening the bonds that tie our families and generations together.
#ShareYourEasterWith1800Flowers
What are your favorite memories of Easter or Passover dinners? Who has made the holidays even more meaningful to you? Please share a story of someone who has made your holiday memorable. And don’t forget to share it with them; we’re sure your memories will make their celebrations all the more special!
In our office, our wonderful assistants, Patty and Jo, decorate for each season. As St. Patrick’s Day came to a close and Easter was on the horizon, our magical “elves” changed our office St. Patrick’s Day decorations and Easter eggs appeared. It’s the little things that make big differences. Thank you, Jo and Patty, for making our office feel Easter-ready and special.
And don’t forget to share it with them; we’re sure your memories will make their celebrations all the more special!
In our office, our wonderful assistants, Patty and Jo, decorate for each season. As St. Patrick’s Day came to a close and Easter was on the horizon, our magical “elves” changed our office St. Patrick’s Day decorations and Easter eggs appeared. It’s the little things that make big differences. Thank you, Jo and Patty, for making our office feel Easter-ready and special.
Ways to celebrate
Here are some tools we put together that we hope you will find useful such as printable Easter coloring pages and cards. Your children and grandchildren will enjoy them (and you just might too). We also have free downloadable ecards and have put together a guide on preparing for the festivities if you want to celebrate with people who aren’t geographically near you.
A reminder to renew our relationships
Let’s use these special occasions and meals as an opportunity to renew our faith, our relationships and connections, and our commitment to the values we hold dear. Easter and Passover are a wonderful time for you to reach out to those you miss, care about and hold dear whether by a text, a phone call or an email.
All the best,
Chris & Jim
AUTHOR
Jim McCann is the founder, CEO, and chairman of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. as well as a business leader, author, and philanthropist with a passion for helping people deliver smiles. Devoted to helping others, he also founded Smile Farms, a 501(c)3 organization that provides meaningful jobs in agricultural settings to young adults and adults with developmental disabilities.
