Another Easter has come and gone. While various groups celebrate the holiday with thankfulness many, including Christians, add a few other elements.

Last week, I pondered the spiritual aspects of Easter in preparation for this past Sunday. Here are a few of those “other elements” that came to mind spurred by the thought process of a six-year-old grandson. I will hold that conversation until the end of this article.

My grandson and I can’t be the only ones who wonder how the symbols we associate with the secular side of Easter came to us. Here is a brief summary, according to so-called experts. Take it with a grain of salt, or a bar of chocolate. Preferably in the shape of a bunny. Or an egg.

Eggs: Although there is no true biblical connection, there are theories that Christians and church leaders may have abstained from eating eggs during the week before Easter. Therefore, any eggs laid that week were saved, decorated, and referred to as “Holy Week Eggs” that were then given to children as gifts. Early Christians frequently painted them red to symbolize the blood of Christ.

As eggs were often a more plentiful food source for the poor, villagers would sometimes give them as gifts to their overseers and lords.

History notes that Queen Victoria popularized the German tradition of Easter egg hunts by coloring the eggs and introducing them to her own children as gifts. This became a Maundy Thursday custom. Victorians are also credited with inventing satin covered eggs filled with gifts.

Bunnies: Some tell the story of how 17th century German settlers in Pennsylvania carried the legend with them of an Easter Bunny who brought painted eggs and gifts to the children. One legend says that the Easter Bunny also lays the eggs, decorates them and then hides them.

Bunnies, laying, painting and delivering eggs. Sounds crazy, huh? But the furry critters don’t do it alone. Traditions in other countries hold that a cuckoo or a fox delivers the eggs. I’ll take the bunny theory.

Side note, Cadbury was the first company to make molded chocolate eggs. Which brings us to . . . Chocolate!: Well, it’s chocolate. Do we really need the history as it pertains to Easter? Or a reason to consume it? My research says that folks were just looking for another reason to eat the tasty treat.

And now the conversation with my grandson that you’ve all been waiting for. Keep in mind, six-year olds have a tendency to overuse the word "but."

Him: “Do rabbits lay eggs?”
Me: “Ummm . . . I don’t believe they do.”
Him: “But then where do the bunnies get them?”
Me: “Where have you seen bunnies with eggs?”
Him: “They’re all over the place cause it’s Easter.”
Me: “Oh. Right. Well I suppose a rabbit could get eggs from chickens like we do.”
Him: “But, that doesn’t sound right. Aren’t chickens afraid of rabbits? Or maybe rabbits are afraid of chickens. But what about chocolate?”
Me: “What about chocolate?”
Him: “Why do we have chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies at Easter and not all the time?”
Me: “I guess bunnies and eggs are popular symbols at Easter, so companies make chocolate candy in those shapes.”
Him: “But what’s a symbol?”
Me: (What I actually said) “It’s a mark, or a sign, that represents an idea, words or another object.”
Him: (What he heard) “Presents? But I like presents. I’m going to draw a symbol that means presents.
Insert two seconds of silence here. I take a breath and hope the questions are done. Nope.
Him: “But I like to color eggs, too. But why do we only color eggs when it’s Easter?”
Me: “Because Easter is in the spring and the bright colors of the eggs are like new flowers that bloom to remind us that winter is over.”
Him: “But did Jesus eat chocolate bunnies and make colored eggs in the spring?”
Me: “You look hungry. Eat your chocolate bunny.”