FYI, parts of this post is from previous May Days.
In first grade, my teacher Mrs. Iverson showed us how to make May Day baskets from pink and yellow construction paper. We drew ivy and flowers on the paper baskets with our thick crayons before going up one-by-one to our teacher’s desk to get the handle stapled on.
On the way home from school, we walked together picking dandelions and soft lavender-colored clover to fill our baskets. The more daring kids picked pansies or snap dragons from a neighbor’s yard to add to their construction paper baskets.
We took turns “May Daying” the neighbors.
I climbed the steps to Mrs. Fixie’s front door. She was the grandmotherly lady with the neat white bun on top of her head who often gave me home-made oatmeal cookies.
I hung the basket on her doorknob. Then, I rang her doorbell and ran as far as my first-grade legs would take me. I hid behind a hedge and watched her open the front door and scan the neighborhood.
Then, she looked at her doorknob at the paper basket filled with flowering weeds. A big smile broke across her face.
“Happy May Day!” I yelled jumping up behind the shrubs.
Where did this fun tradition begin? But, more importantly, where did it go?
Did your kids make May Day baskets in school? Did they surprise your elderly neighbors with baskets of flowers and sunshine on May 1st? Mine did not.
When my mom was in an assisted living home three states away, I always ordered her a basket of flowers on May Day. The card read “Happy May Day! Love, ???”
She’d call to thank me and I’d say, “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about!”
“Really? I could have sworn it was you! I wonder who sent me these flowers?” she’d answer.
That’s how we’ve kept our May Day tradition alive. My son sometimes remembers to text me flower emojis to wish me “Happy May Day.” While my daughter was home, she’d pick bougainvillea, snap dragons and roses from our back yard and pound on the door after school and her swim meet.
I’d run outside and won’t be able to contain the smile on my face as I race around the yard trying to catch her.
In our empty nest, my husband usually remembers to buy flowers, leaves them on the front porch, rings the doorbell and runs away.
Happy May Day, everyone!
How do you celebrate May Day? Or, have you ever celebrated it?
