Easter Traditions

I invited Brian to join my family for Easter the first year we met. When we got there, my mom exclaims to Brian, "He is risen!" To which Brian replied a very enthusiastic, "thank you!"

He didn't know the tradition of replying with, "He is risen indeed!"

When we explained it to him he found it odd, but no more odd than anything else my family does.

Every Easter for many years, Brian and mom acted out this tradition. She exclaiming, "He is risen!" and Brian replying back "He is risen indeed!" in a silly or grandiose way that was meant to let her know he loved me enough to play along.

Over time, it became a special thing between Brian and mom. It was like a competition to see who would say "he is risen!" first.

For the past few years, Brian made it a priority to say it first, going as far as waking up early or answering the phone with, "he is risen!" as a greeting just in case mom called. He got a big kick out of the whole thing.

It may have looked like he was making fun, but making fun of things was how Brian expressed love.

Brian and Dad with their "fancy coffee" in Lucca, Italy