My birthday is in early May so I've always been a fan of May 1st since it means my birthday is right around the corner.
In my opinion, May is the best of the spring months. It is, usually, not too hot and there are still lots of flowers all around but the pollen is usually under control . May 1st is the beginning of one of the most glorious months of the year.
In Germany, as in much of Europe, many towns celebrate the first of May with a huge festival and something called a May Pole (and, I suspect, beer drinking but I was only 6 or 7 when I saw this celebration so I can't be certain). I remember seeing such a festival and watching the dancers in their traditional German folk costumes holding long ribbons and dancing a wonderful jig of sorts around the pole, starting from quite a ways away and ending right next to the pole with the pole wrapped in a gorgeous plait of ribbons. Cool memory. May 1st =something to dance about.
When we lived in Hawaii, May first was the day of a big school festival, aptly named, May Day. At Kailua Intermediate School May Day meant a pageant of Polynesian dance performances and I think some singing. I can distinctly replay in my mind Karen and Kristin and Laurie doing a hula performance and thinking it was so cool that these three haoli chics could do such honor to a non-haoli tradition. I remember how hunky (that was the exact word that came to mind back then) the boys looked all shirtless and barefoot doing the Hawaiian and Tahitian dances that showed off both their physical strength and rhythm. I also remember how May Day meant malasadas and shave ice and not a thing that resembled school work or classroom time. I recall that my sister's elementary school had a similar pageant on May Day as well and her learning a song and dance about going to a Hukilau. I missed May Day celebrations after we left Hawaii and thought Florida was seriously lame for not recognizing what an important festival day it was. May Day=awesome.
Seventeen years ago today, May 1, 1995, May Day, I stood in a conference room in Fairfax, Virginia doing my audition presentation to join the team on which I continue to work to this day. It was an exciting day for me. I'd finally convinced the sales consulting team manager at the time to take a chance on a 23 year old with little industry experience and to give me an opportunity to show I had the skills necessary to be an asset to her team. I'd taught myself how to use PowerPoint (it might have been Freelance, it was so long ago) and built a slide deck to present on the most effective way to submit an expense report (I was working in accounting at the time and processing the expense reports during a time we didn't have a standard policy). I presented to a packed room of sales people, managers, sales consultants and a VP or two. I totally rocked the presentation. I felt fantastic.
Apparently, while I was presenting, the front desk was paging me. I couldn't hear the page in the conference room. My boss at the time, a wonderful lady, knew where I was and took the call. She met me outside of the conference room. She had news for me. It was not good. My mother, who had been battling a vile cancer called melanoma, lost the fight while I was doing my presentation.
Here's the thing about losing a loved one, there is no way to prepare for the loss. Hospice was coming to our house and my sister and I still believed she would get better, even though we fully understood the purpose of hospice and why they come around. Losing someone you love knocks the air right out of you and creates a hole that cannot be filled (though you can, absolutely, learn to navigate around it).
At first I was so upset that I hadn't been there with her in her last moments. But, the truth is, my mother would not have had me be any other place. She wanted nothing more for us than we valiantly pursue our passions. She had an amazing work ethic and she would have insisted that I go do my presentation even if she had known exactly what time she was going to die. Through her, I can accept I was where I was supposed to be. The "audition" did lead to a job I have loved for years, a job that afforded me a life of travel and adventure and amazing friendships.
But now, May 1st, May Day, always finds me in sloshy mess of mixed emotions. It will undoubtedly always be remembered as one of the saddest days of my life. And it is a day that is associated with so many wonderful memories. It is also the day that led me to a career I truly enjoy. And this morning, May Day 2012, I danced in the kitchen with my girls to E's new favorite song, the ABBA hit, SOS. I cannot adequately express how fun it is to have your child really enjoy the music you love. This song is the reason I bought my first album, ABBA's greatest hits with my own Deutsche Marks (I also bought Best of Blondie) over 30 years ago in Germany, the place I first learned about May Day.
May 1st=May Day=awesome (+random bursts of tears).
