50+ Lifestyles

The Merry Month of May

By Eloise Graham

Welcome to the merry month of May! The birthstone is the emerald and the flower is the Lily of the Valley. May Day, the first day of May is a frivolous celebration of dancing around a flagpole, flower baskets and candy. The month ends with the Memorial Day weekend, a solemn celebration of remembrance, again with flagpoles and flowers. Sandwiched in between are the Kentucky Derby, National Day of Prayer, Mother’s Day, Brothers and Sisters Day, World Red Cross Day, V-E Day, National Teacher’s Day, Ride a Bike to Work Day, Preakness, and Indy 500 – to name a few. Older Americans Month is celebrated during the month of May. Throw in a few graduation parties, maybe some weddings and a few retirement parties and you have a busy month.

This month is steeped in history… much we already know or have heard about. But I feel we need to make sure we share it with our children and grandchildren. May Day celebrated on May 1st is a spring celebration centuries old. Dancing around the Maypole with brightly colored streamers, lots of flowers and sweets. But the tradition of leaving baskets filled with candy and flowers on your neighbors’ doorsteps began fading late in the 20th century. Did you celebrate May Day? Tell your family about it.

The annual observance of the first Thursday of May being the Annual Day of Prayer was enacted in 1952. However the idea to have a day for national fasting and prayer had been established in 1775 by the Second Continental Congress.

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. I remember that term. Do you? The date was May 30th and was designated as a day to decorate the graves of the Union and Confederate soldiers that had died during the Civil War. Later, it became a day to remember and decorate the graves of any fallen soldier. In 1971, the date of Memorial Day was changed to the last Monday in May. Remember. There is a difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial day is to remember those veterans that died in service. Veterans Day is to honor all veterans, whether living or deceased. Share that with the younger generations.

During the Great War, later named World War I, the poppy flower became a significant symbol. I don’t think our young people today are aware of the tradition of the poppy or Flanders Fields. The idea of the poppy started with a poem by John McCrae titled “In Flanders Fields” It tells of the poppies that bloom and blow between the rows of crosses of a graveyard called “Flanders Fields.” In 1915, Moira Michael wrote her own poem in response to “In Flanders Fields.” It goes:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led.
It seems to signal to the skies
The blood of heroes never dies.

She was the first to wear a poppy. She sold them to her friends and co-workers to wear.