May’s blog post is here. I’m sharing my thoughts about this month with you and hope you will share your thoughts in a
comment below. Also, be sure to check around the other GeorgiaJanet website pages for updates on books, pictures, and video from the MOTHERLOVE book launch.
In the merry, merry month of May . . .
When we think of the month of May it is usually associated with good thoughts. May – the celebration of spring and flowers. 
Here in the northern hemisphere we are luxuriating in sunshine and warm days. We honor and remember our mothers and service members who gave all. It’s the end of the school year for tired teachers and energetic children. Teachers are ready to deflate and kids are ready to run wild. For older kids, it’s a season of graduation, new beginnings, maybe the last few days of flings with high school or college friends. 
Some will be preparing for June weddings, beginning their first real job, or setting off on a gap year of adventure. Families may be preparing for a longed for vacation or visit with family. So many good things and special days in May.
It is hard to fathom another half of the world with the complete opposite impression of May. Yet, for global citizens in the southern hemisphere May is not the beginning of summer and vacation time. It is the beginning of autumn, with winter not far behind. 
It is the time for getting back into school routines and work schedules. It signals shortened days, darkened evenings, and perhaps a bit of seasonal affective disorder-induced melancholy or depression. It sounds strange to us USA southerners, but personally, I can relate.
Living in the southern USA, the first scenario is the one I embraced until the fateful May of 2009. It started out fine. We had just moved into a new home that I absolutely adored. I was ecstatically looking forward to enjoying the summer in our own backyard pool. We celebrated my middle son’s birthday on May third as he turned 28. 
We were also approaching his highly anticipated wedding on the fourth of July. We were expecting a new grandchild – our first grandson. We celebrated mother’s day with a flourish. All was well and we were gearing up for a glorious summer.
Then the unthinkable happened. On a sublime Friday evening of Memorial Day weekend, May 22, the phone call no parent wants to receive shattered our lives. Our middle son, Jay, had been killed in a tragic wrong-way-driver traffic accident near New Orleans, LA. 
Yes, our precious boy who had just turned 28, was about to finish his Master’s degree, and about to be married in a few short weeks, was taken from us and all who loved him so dearly. May, for us, in spite of its former celebratory persona, would never be the same.
Enjoy your May. Try not to look askance at those who may seem in some other universe during the enchantment of May. They may not see it through your eyes, only theirs that have been clouded with grief. 
Delight in the riot of spring flowers, spend time with your family members, and savor the anticipation of good times ahead. Live each day to the fullest, for we are not promised tomorrow. Indeed, rejoice in the moment and rejoice in the Lord, for he is our hope and salvation.
