Easter Traditions

I remember when I was young at Easter time in our neighborhood, the priest used to come visit the houses on the block. They used to bless our house and all who lived in it. My mom always baked for the Easter holiday, come to think of it she baked for every holiday. She would make Riccotta pie and also my favorite thing, Easter Bread. It was so delicious, it was light and tasted more like a cake than bread. She would make the bread long, or round and she would even braid it. The house would smell like a bakery all week. We were not allowed to eat the pie or bread until they were blessed by the priest. We could not wait for Holy Saturday to come. My brother or I would be the lookout for Father to come down the block, we would count the houses before he would get to ours.
When he finally arrived, he would talk to Mom and ask how things were. He would talk to us about school. He always seened to know what went on in each of our classes. The whole time I'm saying under my breath, "give us the blessing already".. Finally, we would kneel and he would bless us all and the food on the table. He would say goodbye and go on to the next house. Before the door closed we would be eating the pie and I would be stuffing my face with Easter Bread. I smile now as I think about it...
P.S. The priest don't come by to bless the house and food today, some traditions just seem to get lost in time. I still get my Easter bread though, thanks to my wife. Truth be told she makes it as good, if not better than Mom.