I never made a big deal over Easter - mainly because it bumped into Passover which had enough strict rituals and dietary rules to make a Benedictine order seem like a frat house.

Did Easter matter to our kids? Yes. Between matzahs, gefilte fish, and dreidels, they insisted on squeezing in an egg hunt. First, we went to Savon for an egg coloring kit. Afterwards, we boiled eggs and colored them until 2 AM. Eggs turned out nothing special but kitchen counters, table tops, and floor wound up looking like Jackson Pollack had been there. Beddie-bye for everyone except me. I spent another few hours hiding eggs until I tired and began eating every other one.

Egg hunts were deep-sixed after Gerard arrived. He was your typical Basset Hound replete with droopy ears, tragic eyes, and the feeding habits of a goat. Gerard could make short work of a down couch in front of your very eyes. Easter eggs were a no-brainer, and egg shells and all were pillaged long before our brood got a crack at them. Came that day when it was either delete Gerard and paralyzing vet bills or stop egg hunts. Again, a no-brainer. Back to Passover, and be happy with dreidels.

Let's cut to twenty-five years later, a month before Easter. My friend Loraine (not her real name) presented Marilynn and me with a huge Easter gift bag. Once we tore off yards of cellophane, out popped a pink plastic egg basket. Inside was a colorful selection of screw-apart plastic eggs replete with hooks, strings, suction cups, plus candies to fill them with. Marilynn and I high-fived as we gazed at this all-in-one, no mess, dog-proof miracle. Welcome to Willy Wonka Zero-Gravity Eggs - - - you can hide these eggs "where eggs have never gone before".

We decided to plan an Easter morning egg hunt for our 4-year-old Granddaughter, Tamara, and some of her Sunday School friends. Our daughter-in-law, Nancy, made us promise that the celebration would be about Passover. We would have to finesse it. When Tamara et al opened the eggs out would fall refrigerator decals containing Torah blessings, teeny pendants with Hebrew proverbs, colored decorator dreidels, and Passover candies. We'd have a ball, and Nancy would rave to everyone how creative her in-laws were in dramatizing Passover.

The only one we will miss is long-departed Gerard. Even if we'd have to pay for extensive vet bills to remove those Willy Wonka Zero-Gravity Eggs resting in his gut. For more info on the WILLY WONKA EGG HUNT, call 1-(800) 504-4018 or www.VeryBestKids.com