Who doesn’t find themselves singing “In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it…” on this particular Sunday? Well, me for one, ever since I learned the real story.
You know how you hear something as a child and come up with your own version of it, even though it has nothing to do with reality? My fantasy of “You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade” was still vividly in my head when I moved to New York.
In my reality, which is questionable considering I exchange emails with my crepe myrtle tree, the Easter Parade was, well…a parade. I should have gotten a clue when I started asking co-workers and friends if they were going to the Easter Parade and got that “sweet little new girl in New York” look. But, and I can’t resist this pun, I thought maybe it was just “old hat” to them because they had been so many times.
I wore a big straw hat that I bought at Klein’s bargain basement. It was covered with flouncy pink flowers that bounced when I walked. I have no memory of the dress I wore. That day on Fifth Avenue was all about bonnets.
OK, here we are going into part two of my skewed reality. I was daydreaming about being in the “rogue of review,” which, as you may have already guessed, is not the actual song lyric.
How could I have known what a “rotogravure” – that’s the lyric, which refers to a printing process, in the song, not “rogue of review” as I heard it – was? First of all, it’s already in French and then I grew up in Virginia hearing it pronounced with a southern accent. So let’s face it, I was handicapped going in.
On my first Easter in New York, I could hardly wait to get to “The Avenue” hoping to meet my “rogue.” In my mind, he would be a tall, handsome gentleman who would find me so irresistible that he would snap a picture of me for his “review” whatever that was. I was never quite sure but it sounded very glamorous.
As the afternoon progressed with no music, no marching bands and no floats, reality slowly sunk in. Beautiful women strolled the avenue, some wearing hats – and to my disappointment – some not. No one took my picture. And if I was reviewed anywhere, well I never knew about it.
But every Easter Sunday since, I still find myself secretly hoping that I will find a parade…and maybe even meet my “rogue.”
Email Patriciabunin@sbcglobal.net, follow her on Twitter @patriciabunin and go to her website patriciabunin.com
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