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Little Johnny was a rambunctious little boy. He was never still. His mind was always working in ways no other little seven year old would ever think of. He was always drawing pictures of the sky, the moon, animals, and other odd things. So it was a natural thing for him to do when his second grade teacher invited the boys in the class to make an Easter bonnet for the girls in the class to model in the school's annual Good Friday Easter program, an annual event at the elementary school before lawsuits forbid such activities for school children. A prize would be given for the best designed hat. Now Little Johnny loved prizes. Loved them so much so, in fact, that he would only eat one kind of cereal because of the "prize" in the box. So he came bouncing in the door from school, eager to start making an Easter bonnet. He had decided he just had to make an Easter bonnet and try out for that prize. And, when Little Johnny decided something, he usually did it. Or, made as big mess trying. Unfortunately, quite often, the mess won out.

Now then! Little Johnny's mother was not creative and had no idea where to start to make an Easter bonnet. She was pretty good at using her mind to get out of a bad situation, a talent she had learned at a very young age. You see! She had learned quite early in life how to tell Mama what she wanted to hear in a way to avoid whippings with that peach tree switch. Yes, she was very good at making up stories. She even had a couple of short articles published in the local news paper. Her mind seemed to work overtime in creating those stories but when it came time to using your hands for creative activities, that was another situation. The problem of creating an Easter bonnet was soon solved, however, when Little Johnny said he could make one out of a Blue Bell ice cream carton. He could decorate it up like a hat. Well, that was no problem because Blue Bell ice cream was always available in the household so there was no shortage of ice cream cartons laying around. Oh, there may be a shortage of cereal, or maybe other items in the pantry and a shortage of fresh vegetables and milk ,in the refrigerator, but there was never a shortage of Blue Bell. And the ice cream cartons always came in handy in storing marbles, rocks that Little Johnny was always picking up, and other things in his pockets when they were emptied in order the things he had in them didn't jam up the washing machine when washing his clothes. .

Little Johnny sat down at the dining table and drew up several designs for his Easter bonnet on a page of lined paper. He wanted a lacy brim. That may be a problem, his mother thought. How could he put lace on an ice cream carton? Little Johnny's mind was clicking fast and he came up with the idea of using one of the lacy paper doilies placed under the flower pot on the window sill. Hmmm! Okay! Now what? Little Johnny wanted flowers. Well, the roses were blooming but would fresh flowers be appropriate? They would surely wilt before the bonnet was worn. The best solution, it seemed would be to make a trip down to the mall and see what Woolworth's Five and Dime Store had to offer.

Woolworth's' had all sorts of craft stuff. Little Johnny took his time looking at everything, occasionally checking the drawing he had made of the Easter bonnet. He finally completed his choices of articles needed. His mother's legs were getting pretty tired when, after three hours or so, she finally wheeled the shopping cart, filled with Little Johnny's selections, up to the cash register to check out. Let's see! There was a roll of shiny red paper, some artificial flowers, a roll of white ribbon, Elmer's glue, and, and... Oh yes! Don't forget the lacy paper doilies. Little Johnny wanted to start the project as soon as they arrived home but his mother had supper to fix. "Oh ;Lord! What can I fix?" She asked herself. She really should have picked up a pack of hamburger meat, or something to cook, but had spent half of the week's grocery money on Little Johnny's Easter bonnet project. What the heck! She would just cook a pot of rice and mix it with that sausage that was left over from yesterday. That'd make enough for three people to eat. That's what Mama always did when, at the end of the month, she was running short on things. She'd just mix up leftovers, add a little something to them, and pour them over a bed of rice, which was always available in her mother's household over there in South Louisiana. . It was what every family did. And, besides! Little Johnny's daddy was usually late, anyway. He'd be too tired to complain.

Little Johnny worked most of the next day, which was Saturday, on that hat. Finally it was finished and he held it up proudly for his mother to see. It was magnificent! Who would have thought an ice cream container could have been transformed into something so beautiful! But there it was! Little Johnny had pasted the shiny red paper around the container. Then, he had glued the plastic flowers on top and a couple on each side, There were white and pink roses glued to the top. The sides were adorned with white and yellow daisies.. A big white bow fashioned from the roll of ribbon was glued to the back with streamers hanging down. A couple of the paper doilies served as a brim. Indeed! It was a thing of beauty his mother thought. That is, until she started cleaning up the mess Little Johnny had created in creating the hat. Land sakes alive ! It seemed as if she'd never get all that Elmer's, glue off of the dining room table, chairs, and floor.

It was a long week for Little Johnny as he anxiously awaited the big day for the showing of his Easter bonnet. Finally, the day came. Good Friday! The program was set for two o'clock. The auditorium was filled with adoring parents, friends, and siblings of those in the show and at exactly two o'clock, the long red velvet curtains were drawn to expose the kindergarten class seated on the stage. They were dressed in bunny suits. Their act was singing. They sang a song "Here Comes the Bunny Rabbit, Hippity Hop, Hippity Hop," all the while, hopping around on the stage. They hopped with such exuberance until the teacher had a rather difficult time getting them off the stage so the next act, the first graders, could perform. There wasn't much clapping for this act but there surely was a lot of laughing from the audience. Especially, when one little boy kept freeing himself from the teacher's hand and continued to try to get back on stage.

The first graders' production was a springtime act. The girls' heads were adorned with sprays of artificial flowers. The boys were dressed in white shirts and various colored pants. They danced around a pole with streamers of ribbons. They exited the stage in a rather subdued manner to the clapping of the crowd as the big red curtains closed for the next act.

And now for the parade of Easter bonnets! The teacher sat at the piano playing her version of "The Easter Parade." Her rendition was sufficient for the students as none had much musical training, but it was plain she would never make it to Broadway. The boys were seated, some not so quietly, at the back of the stage with a row of empty seats in front of them. The girls were off stage. One at a time, they entered the stage modeling one of the boy's hats and walked across to the other side before taking their place in one of the empty chairs. Little Johnny's mother fiddled nervously in her aisle seat on the fifth row of the auditorium. The girls continued to walk across the stage. Six, seven eight! The girl modeling her son's hat still did not appear. Eleven,! Twelve! Ha! At last! The last model! The little girl modeling Little Johnny's hat had finally appeared. She took a few steps out on the stage and stopped. She turned around, her dark ebony face shining under the red brimmed, flower laden Blue Bell ice cream hat with the lacy brimmed doily. She proceeded to the center of the stage and stopped. After a moment, she bowed to the audience and walked a few more steps where she again turned round and round and stopped again to bow. The crowd stood and clapped wildly as she took her seat by the other girls. The boys and girls then arose from their seats and walked to the front of the stage. The teacher stood up from the piano and asked the audience to clap for the most beautiful Easter bonnet. One by one, the girls stepped up front as parents, friends, and siblings acknowledged them. When the last little girl stood up there was an ongoing uproar as everyone rose to their feet. Not only was there clapping, there were shouts of "Yes! Yes!" The teacher called Little Johnny's name and as he stepped up to center front by the girl who had modeled his creation, she then presented him with the "prize," a large plastic egg filled with candy. The curtains closed and the second graders took their seats with their parents as they waited for the third graders' presentation.

Halfway through the next act, Little Johnny arose from his seat by his mother and walked the three rows back to where the little model who had worn his hat was seated and stood there for a moment. Then, he twisted the plastic egg open and reached over and took her hand. "Here!" He said, as he filled her hand with the candy from the egg. He turned quickly and walked back to his seat by his mother, the empty plastic egg in hand.

The rest of the production was uneventful. There were refreshments of candy Easter eggs, cookies, and punch for enjoyment by all to end the program. Parents talked and children generally ran wild, some throwing the candy eggs at others. These, of course, were mostly boys. Most of the little girls headed for the playground. The teacher came up to Little Johnny and his mother. "That was as precious thing you told your son to do, to share," she said.

Little Johnny's mother thought for a moment. "Oh, I didn't tell him anything. I had no idea what he was doing. I thought he was going to the bathroom."

The teacher turned to Little Johnny. "Why did you do that? It was your hat. You made it." She asked..

Little Johnny bowed his head and rubbed his foot on the carpeted floor of the auditorium. "Uh! Uh!" He stammered. "Well, uh, she wore my hat and she won, too."

Sitting in worship services that Easter morning, Little Johnny's mother looked down on his small frame and into his little white face. The pastor was preaching on what most all pastor's preach on Easter mornings... the ultimate gift of Christ, His sharing, His dying, His love. As she reached over and put her arm around her precious little seven year old son, tears came to her eyes. She understood... through this little boy, what Easter was all about. It was not about new dresses and Easter hats. It was not about Easter eggs and candy. It was not about bunny rabbits. Nor was it about the traditional Easter meal. No! Not at all. Easter was about giving. It was about sharing. It was acknowledging her greatest gift of all... her gift from God of a beautiful little boy, who, even at his young age, knew more about love than some people would ever know, and showing it by giving the candy from a big plastic egg to the little black angel that had worn his creation of an Easter bonnet formed from a Blue Bell ice cream carton in an elementary school Easter pageant.


2006