Religious aspects aside, Easter is kind of like a Christian version of Thanksgiving. The family gets together, sometimes sharing the table with friends (we've had Jewish friends at our Easter meal) and everyone has a slow paced dinner which has usually taken hours, sometimes days, to preprare. Unlike Thanksgiving however, there usually isn't a football game or other big sporting event scheduled so people are more inclined to spend time with each other. Unlike Thanksgiving, people (in general) have less of a tendency to drink too much so there's often a lot of laughter and less confrontation than other family oriented holidays. Depending on where you live the weather is either beginning to get nice or spring is already in full bloom so the kids will often play in the backyard (always bring a change of clothes because kids will play in whatever they're wearing, regardless of how much you paid for the suit) or with neighborhood friends. Sometimes the evening is topped off with a small BBQ of hot dogs, some toasted marshmallows, or just a big pot of coffee. Hopefully, at some time during the day, some of the conversation will turn to the meaning of Easter to help keep things in perspective. Because in a way, this really is the Christian version of Thanksgiving and from a spiritual point of view, we have much to be thankful for.