Sign-up and post on Iberkshires today.It's Free!
Already a member? Log In
59°  H- 72%
The Berkshires online guide to events, news and Berkshire County community information.           
Saturday July 4, 2009
 Make us your homepage!
 

What's Playing


Denzel Washington faces off with John Travolta in the remake of the subway thriller "The Taking Pelham 1 2 3."

'My Sister's Keeper': Finders, Weepers
Movie schedules and times

Free Summer Concerts

Live on the Lake
Burbank Park/Wed., 6 p.m.
July 8, Sirsy
Concerts at the Lake
Windsor Lake/Sun., 7p.m.
Weather delay to July 5,
Pittsfield Eagles

Community Band
Lawn Concerts
Clark Art/Tues., 6 p.m.
July 7, The Doerfels

Sales Fliers

 
 

Daily Digest

What's Happening?
Check Pittsfield Cultural, DownStreet Art and our calendar.

A local bruin looks forlornly at the birdfeeders far from her reach in Joyce Harsch's back yard. Have a photo to share? Submit as a member or e-mail to info@iberkshires.com.
Public Hearings
Department of Public Utilities on National Grid's request for a 16 percent increase in distribution charges on Wednesday, July 15, at 7 p.m. at North Adams City Hall. What's this all about?
Berkshire Fine Arts' Charles Guiliano has an interesting take on the DownStreet (UpStreet?) scene.


Gov. Patrick is against a sales tax holiday this year because the state's dire financial position.

Should Mass. have a sales tax holiday?
No
Yes
Maybe
  
pollcode.com free polls
Jobless Journey
Former Adams resident and radio host Sean Baker has been chronicling his adventures in unemployment on The Forecaster site in Maine.
Sen. Ben Downing has his own YouTube Channel.
Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.

Obituaries

James V. Walsh, 62
Michael A. Massari, 51
Kenneth Russell, 92
Michael A. Massari, 51
Robert A. Harrington, 77
Leo Mayers, 86
Harry C. Sheehy Jr., 80
More obituaries

Sports


Boys of Summer: SteepleCats Return to Joe Wolfe
Q&A with Pittsfield Defenders Coach Carroll Land
NECBL July Schedule
Soccer sign-ups
Hoosac Tunnel Youth Soccer League/NBYMCA fall soccer sign-ups for  PreK-Grade 8 at Northern Berkshire YMCA until Aug. 1.; 413-663-6529 for more information.


Columnists

That's Life

Ice Cream Fever

Independent Investor

Rolling Over Your 401(k) — Or Not

Tobacco Talk

Helping Veterans Kick the Habit

 Search: 
 for    

Related Stories

 
Printer Friendly Version
   Recommend this story to a friend

That's Life: New Coats, New Hopes

By Phyllis McGuire - March 23, 2008
iBerkshires Columnist

A plaque with a bunny holding the greeting, "Happy Easter" adorns my front door. And I have decorated my living room with ceramic bunnies, chicks and eggs that my children, Jennifer and Christopher, crafted when they were school age. Yes, I am looking forward to Easter.

But with Easter falling on March 23 this year, I broke with tradition and did not buy a new spring outfit. Officially it may be spring, but we Berkshireites know the calendar does sometimes lie.

I do hope, however, that the weather Easter Sunday will be kind enough to permit me to shed my warmest winter coat. That coat, almost ankle length, with a plush lining and high collar, keeps me cozy even when the temperature plummets to zero. After much use this winter, the coat does not look fresh anymore, but I dared not leave it at the dry cleaners while wicked weather attacked the Northeast.

I planned to wear on Easter Sunday a pink winter coat I bought during a week I was on Long Island, enjoying the Christmas holiday with my daughter, Jennifer, and her family.

At the time, I already owned four winter coats and did not intend to add another to my wardrobe but ... . The day after Christmas my daughter and I drove to a Burlington Coat Factory to return a jacket that had turned out to be the wrong size for her husband. That exchange made, I suggested that Jennifer shop for a new winter coat for herself - my treat. 


As she looked through the coats on a rack, she came upon one that was my size. "Mommy, try this on," she said. I resisted, "I don't need another coat."

"Oh come on, you love pink."

She was right, so I gave in and slipped into the coat. It was a good fit and I could no longer resist.

In the past, I have worn many a new spring outfit to Easter Mass. I especially liked my aqua Empire coat, a style Jacqueline Kennedy resurrected as first lady. And I received lots of compliments on a white loose-fitting coat I wore when I was pregnant with Jennifer.

There was a time when it was the vogue to wear matching accessories - blue stockings, gloves, handbag and hat. The lingerie shops carried stockings in every color of the rainbow plus more: pink, purple, green, red, orange, rose, champagne, indigo.

The most important accessory, of course, was the Easter Hat." I love hats, and gladly donned whatever was in style, including berets, cloches, pillboxes, and picture hats bedecked with flowers.



In the long ago when my two sisters and I were children, Mother waited until the last minute to buy our Easter outfits, in order to take advantage of huge sales stores would hold.

Feet aching, we would walk from store to store as we searched for the best bargains. Sometimes by the time we were choosing shoes, our feet would be swollen, and we would grimace as we tentatively squeezed them into our regular size. 

"You better just sit here a while, and then try them on again, Mother would say. "I don't want to get you a bigger size only to have them flopping up and down when you wear them on Easter."

One year Mother selected a blue fedora hat for me to wear with a plaid tailored suit. I wore that hat, shall we say, under protest. You know, Mother insisting it went well with the suit, and me whining "I don't like it." Even then, I preferred dressing in a more feminine fashion and, to this day, I am not comfortable wearing pants.

While I like dressing up for Easter, I garner the most pleasure from seeing youngsters in their Easter outfits - little girls in pastel frocks and patent leather shoes, boys in blue blazers over white shirts with bowties at the neck, and toddlers in Eton suits and knee socks. 


Hopefully, the sun will shine this Easter Sunday so that youngsters may enjoy hunting for Easter eggs on the lawns of their homes and houses of worship.  

At church, as we Christians celebrate the Risen Lord, we will sing out in thanksgiving for the gift of everlasting life He offers us, through his sacrifices. We will also pray for the safe return of our servicemen who are embroiled in a war that has taken them far from home.

And I, for one, will beseech God to teach us to live together in peace, whatever our religious or political beliefs.     
Your Comments
Post Comment
From the Editor: I don't know. Maybe if someone who doesn't celebrate Easter wrote a column about that we'd post it. We welcome community submissions.
from: on: 03-25-2008

What about those who don't celebrate easter.
from: Huh?on: 03-25-2008



Top Stories...
Letter From Olver: Actions for Veterans and Troops
REGIONAL - We salute our men and women in uniform for the courage and bravery that they exhibit in...
Fourth of July Festivities: Parades, Fireworks,...
REGIONAL - The parade, which dates to 1824, will avoid Park Square this year and run straight from...
@theMarket: Back to Square One
REGIONAL - Ostensibly, investors were disappointed by the latest unemployment data: 467,000 jobs...
Vt. Couple Buys North Adams Holiday Inn for $2.9M
NORTH ADAMS - "I have mixed emotions. But it's time to pass on the torch as they say." — Marcia...
West Stockbridge Eatery Caters to Local Taste
W. STOCKBRIDGE - "We want to service the people who are like us. Real people." — Jennifer Clark


iBerkshires.com Text Ads
www.pittsfieldamericandefenders.us
www.mountainone.com
iberkshires.com
www.iberkshires.com
Advertise on iBerkshires.com



Essentials
Berkshire Nightlife
Berkshire Photos
Berkshire Wallpaper
Class Reunion Page
Columnists
Dannyoart.com
Get Lunch Specials
Home & Garden
Movie Times
Obituaries
Randy Trabold

Enter your email address below to receive our FREE iBerkshires.com Newsletter

| Home | A & E | Automotive | Business | Community News | Dining | Lodging & Travel |
| Real Estate | Schools | Sports & Outdoors | Berkshires Weather | Berkshires Map |
Advertise | Recommend This Page | Help
Contact Us | Privacy Policy| User Agreement
Execution Time: 564 ms