It’s May Day.  As a kid I remember Mom sent us outside to pick flowers and leave them for the neighbors.  There wasn’t much to choose from but we’d find a few crocuses, violets, some forsythia, daffodils, and of course, dandelions (which we thought were flowers!).  Sure, by the time we finished collecting them (and squishing them to death) they lied limp on the doorsteps, but that little unexpected thought still made them smile when they came home.

Not sure if kids still do this, but for us it was a tradition and it was fun.  So, since everything is late blooming this year, I stopped by Stop & Shop this morning and picked up some flowers.  I left them on the doorstep of my new friend Jenna, she has breast cancer.  Monday will be her 8th out of 12 weekly Taxol & Herceptin treatments and I am pretty sure she is sick of the whole routine (here is my post from that same point in my treatments).  Just a little encouragement, only a few more left!

It’s a simple gesture that will mean a lot.  As I think back to my periods of tough times, there were so many nice things people did for me and I am grateful for them all.  But the little unexpected things that came along during the “quiet periods” are what I remember the most.

When someone gets sick or dies everyone reacts right away –  there are cards, phone calls, flowers, dinners, gift packages, you name it.  It’s nice, but the real tough times are yet to come, and it gets quiet, very quiet.  Breast cancer is tough, but it’s really tough when you are 2-3 months into chemo, completely bald, exhausted, and sick of being sick.  That’s when you need the pick me up.  Same for when someone dies, it’s a good month or two before things settle down and you realize that person is not coming back.  That’s when flowers really brighten a room.

Two years ago when I was deep into my chemo and in the “quiet period”, my neighbor across the street and her daughter brought me over this simple, but lovely pussy willow arrangement they made.  I loved it!  It was a little surprise that said we know it sucks and we are thinking of you.  It is still in my kitchen…

It’s May Day.  Not a big, commercial holiday, just an opportunity to make someone’s day.  Limp flowers or fresh flowers, you choose, they probably don’t care either way.