Data Science. Theatre. Travel.

The earliest memory (and perception) I have of Easter is the song “My name is Anthony Gonsalves” from the 1975 movie Amar Akbar Anthony. In the song, Amitabh Bachchan emerges out of an Easter Egg to break into a Bollywood number about how he is looking for a suitable woman to marry. So, when Dylan and Alli mentioned to me that Opa will be hosting an Easter Egg hunt, I thought it would be something similar – trying to look for Opa in a huge Easter egg! That was not the case, as I discovered later.

After spending a heartwarming Christmas eve with the Johnsons in December 2018, I had a few opportunities to hang out with the Johnsons in the months that followed. I was really touched when Omi and Opa made it to my play A Mirror through You and told me that they loved it. So, when Alli invited me to spend Easter 2019 with the family, I was obviously quite excited.

The day started with a wonderful service at the Watermark church characterized by mesmerizing lighting, scintillating music, and a gathering of beautiful believers who raised their hands and sang in joy and celebration throughout the morning. This was followed by some hot coffee and breakfast at Starbucks where we bid goodbye to our friend Madison. We made it to Omi and Opa’s place right in time for lunch. As usual, Omi had worked hard to prepare a delicious meal for the whole family. It was soothing to see her calm face and welcoming smile once again as she greeted us when we entered. Opa, as usual, made everyone feel at home from the moment we entered with his sense of humour. For one of the jokes he made later, Omi burst out laughing saying “You don’t come up with many good ones but that one was really good!”. I must say – Opa’s one liners always stay with me long after I leave them 🙂

Soon, we were joined by the rest of the family – DJ, Vicki, Spencer, Heidi, John, Aiden, Liam and their soccer-playing British friends Luke and Matthew. We sat at the dining table – a group of people all very grateful to be there – enjoying Omi’s delicious meal and Opa’s pleasant company with some wine, bread, meat, dessert and anecdotes from around the world. Matthew spoke about traveling across England, Aiden (the valedictorian) spoke about his upcoming Air Force days and Opa narrated the incident when he went train-hopping and met a guy named “Hoppy”. With our bellied full and hearts content, we moved on to the most exciting part of the day – the Easter Egg hunt.

Opa asked 9 of us to wait in his office while the others hid the Easter eggs all around the house and the front yard. He then explained the very interesting set of rules that revolved around each one finding 10 eggs as soon as possible. It was clear that Opa had put a lot of thought and effort in planning this egg hunt. As soon as he said GO, young Liam and soccer-player Matthew just sprinted across the house to be the first ones to find their 10 eggs. As I had expected, I finished last. In fat, I was only able to find 3 eggs by myself. The remaining 7 were found by the whole team working together. This was bound to happen since all the easy ones were already taken and it was only the difficult spots were left to be explored. I will always remember how everyone from Heidi and John to DJ and Brandon and Spencer and Omi and Opa were going all around the house and giving me hints to help me finish the egg hunt. That’s when it really felt like a “HUNT”.

Finally, we found all the eggs and it was time to open them up. We gathered in the living room and sat around in a circle with each one taking turns to open up their 10 Easter eggs. It was exciting to see what each egg held – sometimes it was a few pennies, sometimes it was dollar bills and sometimes it was a special coin that gave you the power to pick one of the bigger eggs near the fireplace which will hold a bigger prize. The most hilarious thing was that by the end of it all – I, the last one to finish the egg hunt, ended up winning with the most amount of money 😀

After that dramatic turn of events, we all had some dessert and coffee and started a game of Blackjack. I was the bank, Opa was the dealer and Matthew, Liam, Brandon were the ones trying their luck. This game had its moments too with everyone losing out a couple of dollars to eventually making it all back by the end of the day.

As the afternoon came to an end, it was time to say goodbye but not before we clicked some happy photos. Everyone gathered in the front yard and posed with their winnings. I clicked some pictures of Alli and Dylan, who looked absolutely adorable and well co-ordinated with the pink dress and pocket square.

And once again, as I left Omi and Opa’s house after hugging everyone, my heart was filled with so much joy, warmth and gratitude for the opportunity to meet these marvelous people in a new, unknown country. I told Dylan that I would never have imagined that I’ll be welcomed into a family like this, that I would be spending Easter or Christmas with them, that I would sit at a table and laugh and dine with them, experience their way of life and hear their stories while I share my own.

I will be forever grateful for these memorable moments spent with the loving Johnson family. I know that they have a special place in my heart now and I will always wish them the best. As Opa says – this is my American family 🙂