When the novel Corona virus smacked the planet in the face like a hard, wet snowball, life unsynced itself. Things that kept the rhyme and tempo of life suddenly turned into literal silence. And now COVID-19 has basically cancelled Easter.
Video by Ann Bassette
I’m not remotely religious, nor am I a traditionalist. But my family is. On Sundays when I was a kid my mom would put me on a Samtrans bus to go visit my grandparents in Daly City. We would go to their church. Listen to the sermon. And at the end, there would be coffee and donuts that my brain translated into being the Blood and the Body of Christ.
As a young atheist, I didn’t see Easter as the day Christ rose from the grave. I saw it as the week I would get to visit my grandparents and help my grandfather make Easter bread and cheese.
I didn’t exactly do that much at the time, I probably just decorated the toppings. But as I got older, I took a more central role in the prep process. My grandfather would buy the ingredients. Then, about 3 days before Easter, I would go to their house and mix the Farmer’s Cheese and cottage cheese through a sift, before pushing it into a flower pot and wrapping it with cheesecloth. On Easter I would arrive early to decorate. Easter Cheese. This is probably the most significant tradition my family has.
When my grandfather’s brother was still alive, we would bring him a sampling of the Easter Cheese. And I was always so nervous because I knew it was a big deal to him. I was instantly relieved when he would nod his head in approval.
When my grandmother got cancer many years back my grandpa postponed the Easter Cheese. When they called months later to tell us that the cancer was gone, I screamed: CAN WE MAKE EASTER CHEESE NOW!? My mom was not thrilled with that response, but it was a big deal. It was the return to normal moment that made it feel like everything was better.
Last week, I hopped on a ZOOM called with my mom and grandparents.
“I’m sorry Ming, but I think we’re gonna have to postpone the Easter Cheese for a while,” my grandfather said.
It’s weird how little things like that, things you don’t even think about act like magnets in your life, holding parts of the year in place. And when those little things aren’t there anymore it feels like you’re in a holding pattern.
Things have come to a screeching halt. Basic things that were taken for granted like dining out, or going on a long walk seem more like a risky luxury than a necessity at this point.
But until this situation passes and we wait to return to normal, I’ll still be waiting for Easter Cheese.
