Normally, I don’t get up early.
As a college student, I’m prone to staying up late and sleeping even later. Many days, I can wake up as late as noon because of how I constructed my schedule this semester. (To whoever came up with 8 am classes, you are not my friend!).
You can probably figure out that because of my late schedule, I don’t tend to eat breakfast much. Sure, breakfast is praised as the most important meal of the day, as a jumpstart to a productive 24 hours, but it just doesn’t appeal to me.
So when my family drove six hours north to surprise me over the weekend and had me get up at 8 a.m. sharp for Easter breakfast, I wasn’t very amused.
Getting up early? To go eat? When I would rather take another two hours to get some well-deserved rest and skip straight to lunch? No thanks.
But sure enough, at 8:45 I found myself in the car heading to Easter breakfast.
My family had settled on The Mad Hatter – a small restaurant and bakery close to the center of Rochester. (Definitely visit it when you get the chance!)
After a little debate, I ended up settling on chocolate chip pancakes, one of the timeless classics of breakfast. Nothing else on the menu really resonated with me (I also have a weird thing against eggs but that’s a story for another time). Sure, the food was really good!
But that’s not the point of the breakfast. The point was my family. I got to sit with them and just talk and laugh before they had to leave. It was a nice moment in between the chaotic yet fun times I had with them the past few days.
It’s hard to admit, but I’ve missed my family a lot since I left for the spring semester, and it was really nice to see them again. They’re so important to me, and though I try to talk to them every day, it just isn’t the same as seeing them in person.
I saw Easter weekend as a break between my normal college schedule, and looking back on it now, I really needed it. I was feeling drained from the aftermath of midterms and I needed a short escape.
My family came to surprise me on Friday and stayed for two whole days, and it felt so good to have some familiarity again.
That’s why I treasured Easter breakfast so much–it was my last chance to be with my family for the next month and a half. They’re home now, returning to their normal schedule. But I’m so grateful that they were able to come up and spend some time with me, even if I had to get up early and eat breakfast.
To all of those who enjoy breakfast, keep making cereal or waffles–just make sure you have enough to share with those you love.