May Day

Years ago, I was not one to think much about May Day: the crowning of the Queen of the May, its Maypole dancing, or the May Day call of distress. However, that changed in 2003 when I received a true May Day call from Cari. Her brother, David, died May 1, 2003.

This year, as I was preparing, mentally, for this day, I was looking through photo albums trying to find pictures of Cari, David, and me from when we were younger. You see, I've known Cari since we were 4 years old and along with gaining a childhood best friend, I gained an older-brother-type relationship with David as well. I have vivid memories of sitting around their dinner table alone with their parents because they couldn't stop bickering at the table and got sent to their rooms. I remember asking David questions about how boys think. I remember late night bike rides with both of them. I remember how smart David was in Math. I remember, well, a lot.

Since we're packing up our life to move, I was only able to find one picture of David and it happens to be the one in my David's baby book. My David was born when Cari was living in Colorado, but Cari's mom and brother couldn't wait to meet baby David. It is one of my sweetest memories of David Stone... he couldn't take his eyes off my baby.

I have definitely grieved in my life. Watching my good friend grieve is heart wrenching. Walking alongside her has made me stronger and, hopefully, a better friend. I love her and I loved her brother.

I think that I'm especially moved on this May Day in 2010 because of the fact that it marks 3 months until we leave for Argentina. I wish I could talk to David about it. He loved our world and I know he would love what we are doing and would have made plans to visit. I miss him.