Left to right..My sister Robin, Christie and me and my mother

Taken in the open lot by Wesley Methodist Church in Springfield , MA on Easter Sunday.

(maybe 1959-1960) I am sure we were all wearing our white gloves but in the photo you can just see Christie's. My sister Robin and I probably had our little purses too! Our Easter hats were chosen by us and mine is one that I had begged for, yet in later years came to be known as my "Evelyn Taylor" hat (another story). Our outfits, dresses, coats for all of us, even my mother, were all made by her. She was an incredible seamstress.

I think that the photo speaks to the family unit that we were.

My father was taking the picture of all his girls.

What a happy group we were. All the girls...and that is how I remember us all. My mother, beaming, always proud of her daughters. Between March and April, Easter usually punctuated either my mother's birthday, mine or Robin's. Celebrations were important and never skipped in our family. March 23 will be just a little over a year that my mother has been gone. Every day I miss her, but on her birthday, I will always be thankful that she was my mother. I will thank her for her strength, for her 'everyday' courage, and for the fine example she always set for her family. Both of my parents were caring, giving people that did so much for their community, their church and their family.

So on this day, my loving mother, you are missed, and will always be in our hearts.

Patricia Woodard Hunt celebrating her birthday with her mother, Edna Brown Woodard.