While scouring through old file folders marked Easter, I came to a story — a legend. A poor peddler on his way to market to sell a basket of eggs came upon an angry crowd of people mocking a man who was staggering beneath the weight of a cross.

Taking pity on him, the peddler left his basket by the roadside and went to the man's aid. When the peddler returned he found his basket filled with beautifully  decorated eggs.  The man was Christ, the peddler was Simon and the eggs symbolized the first Ukrainian pysanky or Easter eggs.

To this day Ukrainian Easter eggs are valued all over the world, admired for the detailed designs and delicate beauty. This week as thoughts meander to the beleaguered nation, there are questions about whether Ukrainians are clinging to the gift of life symbolism the eggs represent.

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Easter in Ukraine is expressed "Paskha" and further is titled "Velykden" or The Great Day. As family customs go, the tradition of decorating the eggs was a major part of the Easter celebration.

Eggs were given to friends as gifts commemorating Christ's teachings of peace and love. They were  used as table decorations and taken to the cemetery then placed on the graves of loved ones. The eggs remained in homes from year to year to ward off fires and lightning strikes.

There was a time when Ukrainians would hide the decorated eggs in thatched roofs and under haystacks. Beekeepers would slip eggs under hives to insure a fine supply of honey. Farmers would bury them in fields to bring rich harvests. Some believed the eggs protected them from high winds. Those hidden eggs served like charms.

Decorators used geometry, plants and animal representations as they applied beeswax and dye. A stylus called a kistka was used to apply successive lines and spaces of wax. After each dye dip, more wax was heated and applied. Horizontal and vertical lines were planned in pencil.

It is an art form that expanded beyond basic geometry to include favored flowers like the sunflower and poppy. Crosses, stars, ladders, ribbons and triangular forms appeared to represent the Trinity.

As thousands of Ukrainians flee from the familiarity of their homes and the comfort of calm routines, they dwell in uncertainty colored with with fear. Maybe we could pray that others near them at this time would encourage the remembrance of Easter — The Great Day — leading them to the preparation of these symbolic eggs which have brought pleasure, peace and love.

Mary Lee Minor is a member of the Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club, an accredited master gardener, a flower show judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs and a former sixth grade teacher.