Hooray- Hooray
in my father's life.
He was 53 when I was born-
his first child.
Born on a farm in
Pennsylvania with
uncles and aunts that
owned farms around,
or connected, to ours.
Because of my father's age,
that meant that I grew up
with cousins
that were almost
a full generation
older than I was.
So, by the time I was six or so,
many of my older cousins
were driving.
Some were already married
or engaged.
On the first of May,
my cousins down the lane
would come,
along with my Aunt Bessie.
She never drove a car
She never drove a car
in her life so her
daughters drove.
We would drive
a few miles to
a lightly wooded area
a lightly wooded area
where we would pick
MAY FLOWERS.
Today,I know that
they were simply
SWEET VIOLETS
in pretty pastel colors.
Oh- How I loved MAY DAY
SWEET VIOLETS
in pretty pastel colors.
Oh- How I loved MAY DAY
in the woods on leggy stems.
We would pick big bunches
We would pick big bunches
to bring home
and we would plop them
and we would plop them
would give us each
a slice of fresh baked bread
slathered with butter
and homemade strawberry jam.
source
I would go home
a slice of fresh baked bread
slathered with butter
and homemade strawberry jam.
I would go home
full and happy,
with my hands clutched full
with my hands clutched full
of wildflowers.
I would be smiling
I would be smiling
when I entered the back door
to our farmhouse,
the screen door slapping shut behind me.
My brother, Charlie, who is
smiling down from Heaven,
had a special poem
JUST FOR ME.
It went like this:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I thought I was ugly
Until I saw you.
Yes- Oh- the fond memories
that take me back to childhood.
I would stick my tongue out
My brother, Charlie, who is
smiling down from Heaven,
had a special poem
JUST FOR ME.
It went like this:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I thought I was ugly
Until I saw you.
Yes- Oh- the fond memories
that take me back to childhood.
I would stick my tongue out
at him and set my
MAY FLOWERS
on the counter
to celebrate the
MAY DAY.
source
So-CELEBRATE TODAY
~ JUST CELEBRATE~
CELEBRATE TODAY IN MAY.
SHOUT IT
loud and clear
MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!
Did you know that if you shout MAYDAY
three times in a row
MAY FLOWERS
on the counter
to celebrate the
MAY DAY.
So-CELEBRATE TODAY
~ JUST CELEBRATE~
CELEBRATE TODAY IN MAY.
SHOUT IT
loud and clear
MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!
Did you know that if you shout MAYDAY
three times in a row
it is
the international signal
the international signal
of distress?
Be careful-
Be.very.careful.
You know what THAT means,
don't you?
You may get someone
You may get someone
49 comments:
Happy May Day to you! I do love all the flowers blooming in May! How nice you have this wonderful memories with your aunt collecting violets. They are precious treasures found growing in the grass here.
Precious sweet loving share ... he can knock on mydoor any day
We had a screen door that "slapped shut", as well...LOVE the sound and how it would squeak.
hugs
Donna
What a great memory for you! I loved reading this my friend.
That was me... above.. vivia
Vivian nnnnnnn. Lol!
My brother had a special poem for me too, which he wrote in my autograph book -- "If I had your picture / I'd treat it very nice / I'd hang it in the barn / To scare away the mice."
Childhood memories are wonderful -- and how fun to have an Aunt Bessie, who sounds great. Being an 'only,' my cousins were really important to me. I remember the May Day flowers. And your brothers poem -- well, I guess that's what brothers are for!
And I thought my daddy was old. LOL My brothers were in the USN in WWII and I was not in school yet. I had nephews close to my age. ;-)
Sweet entry, THANKS a great read.
Love sent from Florida in the sun,
Sherry & jack smiling.
PS: Yes we too had a screen door that had a strong spring, LOL!
You brought back so many sweet memories of when my husband would pick the first blooming violets he found in the woods. He'd bring them home to me and once he pulled one up and had it hidden in an old dead leaf. He was such a sweet, thoughtful man. I miss him.
What sweet memories! I'd much rather have hand-picked wildflowers in a jelly jar than a stuffy hot-house bouquet.
I am with Myra I prefer jelly jars with wildflowers that over beautiful vase full of roses anytime. We didn’t even know there was a mayday I grew up in the south in the country and nobody celebrated anything except Christmas Eve or Easter and Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July there were only four holidays for up for us growing up. I would love to see a field full of violets have never seen them growing wild I don’t think we had violence and the south either if we did I never saw them. These are indeed precious memories I thought daddy was old at 33
Nice happy memories.
May is my birthday month!
I love hearing the stories from your childhood, and your Aunt Bessie. She sounds like a great auntie. The homemade bread with butter and strawberry jam sounds Yummy. Being the youngest cousin, that must have been different for you. I remember the wildflowers starting to grow in the month of May, and we used to be able to pick them whenever we wanted. And I love Charlie's poem he made up for you. Fun times for sure, and lots of great memories.
Happy May days to you, Diana.
~Sheri
You're so funny...I love your shout out to Kris at the end! 🤣 I was also a late in life baby. So my cousins and my sisters were/ are also much older and, depending on the day, spoiled or tortured me to pieces! Ha! I learned a lot from them and was exposed to some great music at a very young age! Then they all had babies when I was in middle and high school and I returned the favor...Happy May Day!! xo
You had me smiling all the way through this post, Diana. Love ya, girl!! xo
This is such a sweet and funny post. Love your childhood story.
What lovely memories! We have most of these Violets, but I have never seen any pink ones.
Hence the reason the pilots and captains of ships use the word May day! Nice....and I love the MAY DAY FLOWERS.. its funny what memories some folks that past through our lives leave us with....My brother used to tell me I caused the earthquakes in Calif cause I was born there. Then we told the younger brother that he was not born, we found him in a dumpster.
You are so funny. I love this post. One of my friends in school...a boy who was a twin to another boy, but they were both so different...anyway (Terry and Jerry), anyway, Jerry was the ornery one...He wrote on the back of his school picture to me, "Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is scarce, and I wish you were too!". Jerry is now at his eternal reward...I am assuming he made it to heaven, but I often had questions about it...His brother Terry came to my rescue once when I was sliding down in a steep hill. Terry helped me get back up while Jerry stood there and laughed. Anyway, now see what you started with your memories? I loved the story about you picking the violets with your cousins, etc. and the wonderful fresh homemade bread and strawberry jam at your Aunt Bessie's house. What precious memories. I bet you were the little darling of them all. Thank you for sharing! Happy May Day indeed, even if it IS already May 20th! LOL>
Happy day in May to you..Not many left..It has been a good month so far..
Loved the story of the Violets..Thanks for sharing..Enjoy your weekend!
Hugs..
So all I need to do is say mayday three times and that cutie will come rescue me? I'm not falling for it. I had someone tell me that all I had to do was click my heels together 3 times and say there's no place like home. That never worked.
Oh how I love violets…can you believe some people think they’re weeds? (What’s wrong with them anyway?) They bloom in February here. Love your memories of them. We’ve had a marvelously mild Spring - it’s only been hot a few days. Hoping it means we have a mild summer. Enjoy your lovely May days.
Hugs, Cecilia
Hehe, I got so many chuckles from this post, Diana. I am the youngest of nine, so even though my parents were just in their late 30s when I was born, I have siblings that are at the opposite end of the boomer generation from me. And I have a brother who, I believe, may have written a similar poem for me. 😉 You, me, and Kris all have our firemen in the family so yea, I'm careful when crying Mayday! (Even though I did while digging out lily-of-the-valley from all over my landscape this year!). I love this month of May and the memories like those you've recalled.
A lovely happy post Diana x
What a sweet story! I can picture the woods full of lovely violets and just imagine how yummy that bread and jam was! Funny how cherished those simple memories are! Your brother in heaven sounds like mine. They're probably teasing us from up above. I agree, Kris already has a handsome hunk fire man 😂 Have a wonderful Sunday! Hugs!
LOL I do have my own firefighter but I am greedy and like this one too!!!! I love this tradition you had with your cousins and Aunt Bessie. Love her name by the way. What a great way to start out Spring and Summer.
Have a great Sunday and wonderful start to the new week. Hugs. Kris
Sounds like you had a very enchanting childhood full of good memories.
Brenda
Diana, You crack me up. If that cute man came to safe me...I'd pinch his cheek, and fix him lunch. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
Diana, how sweety those memories can be. Aunt Bessie sounds lovely.
Charlie must have been a hoot! He sounded like most brothers. Love the shout out about kris, her own personal fire fighter. happy May Day. xoxo
Oh, the showers of APRIL and Flowers of MAY! We have been covered over in "sweet vi-O-lets" for days now, and there's just such a color-wheel magic in the yard, especially out in the Fairy Dell, which puts a punctuation of all those Dan-DEEL-Yun yellows all over the lawn. I hate to walk out to the fence, for fear of treading on all those happy little purple faces.
Once in my life we had a Maypole dance---my Daddy had somewhere acquired this really long pole, and we dug a hole in the back lawn to hold it. It took a lot of standing and holding it while others packed in the dirt and rocks and several pieces of concrete that would keep it steady. Everybody had run home and got every piece of ribbon they could find---I remember one boy coming back across the lawn, tearing a piece of an old sheet into strips as he walked. We tied all those ribbons on, along with several long whisks of crepe-paper, with most of them knotted up like tatty kite-tails, and danced away. I don't think the original Maypole dancers would have minded that we were dancing to "Hound Dog" and "Don't be Cruel" on my tee-ninecy record player on the battered old picnic table. We all made a wish, and even though I'd never dreamed of wishing it in all my years of being an only child, my baby Sis was both on May Day the next year.
Happy May TO YOU!! I can see you've been hanging out with that naughty NanaD again, haven't you? She's rubbed off on us all, and we're all the better for it.
Love it!! What an enchanted life....but all of life is, isn't it?? Hope you have a great weekend....
Nancy
Enjoy every minute of your happy season(s)!
Those are great memories that you'll always have. Have wonderful day, Diana.
Precious Memories, how important they are now even when we thought they were not so many years ago ! Hopefully everyone had an awesome Childhood as I did !
What a perfect post. Oh the violets! We did the same thing early spring, going to my aunt Berlie's to pick violets on our walk to the spring. May is my favorite month and it always goes by way too fast. Hey, do think if I yelled mayday, mayday, mayday, loud and fast...he might knock at my door!?? :)
Love this, Diana! Happy May Day! Oh, I'm going to keep yelling until HE shows up at my door, lol!
Oh, those violets are so pretty, aren't they? And what special memories of your childhood! Happy May Day to you, too!
Happy memories. It's lovely to be able to look back on simple times and take so much pleasure from them.
Typical brother! Such wonderful memories of May.. family, flowers and jam.
Oh how I adore sweet violets. I used to pick bunches and take them to my dear grandma. She would place them in a blue and white creamer on the table and then we would have something wonderful to eat. I now have that creamer in my kitchen and there are times when I fill it with lovely violets and yes remember. Hope you have a blessed week friend. Hugs!
Hi Diana!
Oh this is a lovely post. I hope you are having a nice Monday!! xo
Lovely Lovely post Diana . . .
And the collage block of violets, pure delight!
Happy May Days . . . each and all …
The month is flying!
I just love your wonderful childhood stories, Diana! I have "johnny jump ups" all over my garden here, how I love them! May and June are the most amazing wildflower months! Your brother Charlie had a great sense of humor, just like you, I know you miss him so much! Blessings to you!
What a sweet memory, Diana.
Jim just put up a screen door for me.
I love having one for summer. The slamming sound reminds me of my gramma.
Great post, my friend.
Debbie
xxoo
Diana,
What a great story!! I too used to pick those flowers and bring them home and my Mother would put them into a vase and being Catholic, we would make an altar with the Blessed Virgin Mary and put the flowers in the vases in front of her....May Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary used to happen in every Catholic church in the area...Great memories!!
Hugs,
Deb
Awe, Sweet memories. I remember the old screen doors.
We would pick those big white flowers,called Queen lace or something, and mom would put them in a vase of color water and we would get excited to wake up the next morning to see what color they would be depending on the color of food coloring she used.
Lisa
Such a sweet post. We never did anything like this. In fact, I never heard of May Day until I was grown. You must have had a lovely childhood.
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