Ushers bring in extra chairs for people who can't find seats in overflowing pews. Some of those who sing are off key, but all sing loudly and with enthusiasm. After the service, the young children remain inside, rather than rushing out to play as they do every other Sunday. Adults and teen-agers hide Easter eggs on the lawn, and then the children come out with their brightly colored baskets. Families, many who gather only at Easter and Christmas, group together to have their pictures made.
People smile and hug.
And some walk through the church cemetery. There are plots with graves from before the Civil War. And there are plots with newer graves, where parents and friends and even children of those at Sunday's service are buried. For those people, Easter is another holiday with an ache, a time when someone is missing from the family gatherings. But because it is Easter, there is joy with the sadness.