Chapter 10: Easter at Kennywood
The next day, we met up with some of our other best friends Alex Russo, Justin Evans, and Max Greenwald as well as fellow sectional instructor at the First Presbyterian Church in Duquesne for a traditional Easter dinner and a gift exchange. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Alex greeted back. "Happy Easter!" I greeted everyone. We jammed out to 98 Degrees, Lizzo, and the Pop2Kountdown featuring 2005 once again. The food we had was chips, cookies, fruit, veggies, cheese and crackers, and even dump cake. Then, our main meal consisted of chicken parmesan, lasagna, macaroni and cheese, potatoes au gratin, coleslaw, salad, rolls, bunny cake, and chocolate and vanilla ice cream. "All of the food is delicious, Max," Henri stated. "Thank you!" "You are so welcome, Henri," Max stated. "You cannot go wrong with food from the Cooked Goose Catering company for an Easter dinner!" "This is not the end of our time together, is it, Justin?" James asked. "No, it is not, James," Justin replied. "As a matter of fact, it is just the beginning." "I would like to see my college mentor, Daniel at Kennywood today," James explained. "He helped get me into Carnegie Mellon University." "This is a great idea, Alex," Sarah stated. "I always look forward to celebrating Easter with my younger 'sisters'." "I look forward to Easter dinner with my second all-girl family, too, Sarah," Alex replied. "Since Covid, we have had both a hike in Frick Park for Easter eggs and dinner afterwards and we have done the hike and the dinner separately, but we were alternating the two," I pointed out. "In 2021 and 2023, we did the hike and the dinner on separate days, but in 2022 and 2024, we did the hike and the dinner on the same day." "Come to think of it, I will be eating chicken parmesan for the next 3 Sundays," Alex stated. "For the band banquet and for my birthday party at Veltre's." "Can we come?" Sarah asked. "You can't come to the band banquet because it is for band members only, but you can most definitely come to Veltre's for my party, because I am inviting all of my good friends," Alex asked. "Chicken parmesan was the meal that I ate with Angel in Station Square before we split an ice cream sundae for Angel's birthday while James was away at his college interview," Sarah stated. "I also enjoyed going to Kennywood with Angel one last time before she headed to Edinboro University," Alex stated. "No matter how much time we are together or apart, we will always be best friends," I happily stated. "Did I tell you that Justin and I are going to present the awards to the seniors at the banquet?" Alex asked. "I would, but there are no seniors in the percussion section this year," Giada stated. "No, that is very cool," Sarah stated. "Good luck with that!" After dinner, we had an Easter basket raffle exchange in which Alex won the lucky 30-dollar gift card, which she decided to share with me and Sarah. Then we headed to Kennywood where we rode the Skyrocket, the Thunderbolt, the Phantom's Revenge, the Black Widow, the Exterminator, the Whip, the Swingshot, the SpinVasion, the Pirate ship, the Musik Express, the Cosmic Chaos, the bumper cars, the Racer, and the Jack Rabbit. We took a selfie in front of the Parkside Cafe. We stayed at Kennywood Park until it closed. Then, we all went home after one of the best Easter Sundays of our lives! "Thanks for a great day and a super great Easter, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Good night, guys!" "Good night!"