Hi fans,

To change things a bit, I decided to leave the deep reflections aside today and share one personal memory with you all.

I don't know about here in Italy, but in Brazil, instead of directly handing a chocolate egg to a child on Easter, we would hide it, as if the Easter Bunny himself had visited. To be honest, I'm not even sure if this is a universal tradition - but it should be!

My father and I had our own version of this tradition though. He would have me wait in my room while he hid the eggs around the house. Then, he would take me out of the room and give me just one piece of information: The number of eggs. I had one hour, and any eggs I didn't find would be donated. And don't get me wrong - but I couldn't let those children have my chocolate. I was determined to find every last one - whether for the chocolate or to beat my father in our playful competition.

But dear Walter didn't facilitate. He'd start off easy, but the more special the egg, the more challenging it was to find. I've found eggs inside the air purifier, exactly in the middle of sealed rice bags, at the bottom of plant pots full of soil, perfectly hidden in chandeliers - one hiding spot was better than the other. Each discovery was a victory. As I ran through the house, he watched me, went away, came back, and would say "40 minutes left..."; "20 minutes left..." I would start to sweat, adrenaline running through me, and for a non-sporty child, it was THE race.

Despite my best efforts, my dad and I would always end up donating a couple of eggs. It was his way of teaching me the importance of sharing what we have, an Easter tradition that I maintain to this day here in Italy.

Chocolate was, and still is, a weakness of mine. Those Easter eggs were treasured, often lasting months as I rationed them carefully, making the joy of Easter linger as much as I could. I would eat them slowly, bite by bite, one by one, and we would be eating Easter chocolate until about September - I'm dead serious. 

This is one of my favorite memories with my father, and I wanted to share it with you.

With love,

Micael.