April 2002

I have a co-worker, and friend, who attends a Greek Orthodox church. And over the years, we have chatted about the fact that the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity celebrate their holy days on different dates. In those years when I am oafish enough to ask her how her Easter was, on the day after my Easter, she will say something like, “Kihm, the real Easter isn’t for five weeks.”

I always thought it had something to do with Gregorian and Julian calendars, different methods of reckoning time, phases of the moon, and it was more than I could understand. But today, she slipped and revealed the real reason her Easter comes after mine. In discussing her evening plans, she said, “I have to go get my Easter stuff on sale.”

Well, the light finally came on. And don’t I feel like a patsy, paying retail for my Easter supplies while Greek-Americans laugh all the way to the bank. I have so much to learn.