A series of essays....
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CEREMONIES, RITUALS, AND MEMORIES SHARED WITH LOVE HELP US APPRECIATE THE DEEP FOUNDATIONS THAT STABILIZE US THROUGHOUT OUR LIFETIME |
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
Walking with my head held high and pure joy in my heart, my black Buster Brown ‘Mary Jane’ shoes tapped a rhythm down the long, tiled hallway. Obediently, I made my way to Sister Rose Marie’s small office at the back of the school. The little, round package of tin foil gently rested in my small hands. It’s wrapping, done up very neatly by my mother minutes before, was to be delivered to Sister and opened prior to the actual ceremony that was scheduled for ten o’clock that morning.
I hadn’t been in this new school for more than a few months, considering my dad’s employment sent us packing to a different town at least once a year. Fortunately, my older brother and I seemed to be adjusting quite well to this current environment and range of new faces and personalities that designated yet another change in our young lives. At least I was always making new friends each stop along my ‘skipping stones’ journey through parochial elementary school and life in general!
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MEMORIES: BUSTER BROWN ‘MARY JANE’ SHOES |
St. Peter’s Parish in Fort Wayne, Indiana celebrated Mary, Jesus’ mother, throughout the month of May as most Catholic Churches and families do. This celebration serves as a reminder of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s importance in the life of the Church and in our own lives, as well. Usually, a May Altar is erected along with a statue of Mary and a colorful array of flowers and lit candles and may stand throughout the month of May. A May Crowning is often held presenting Mary with a crown made of fresh blossoms in her honor while denoting the beginning of spring with all of its colorful bounty.
Finally arriving at my destination, Sister Rose Marie greeted me with a genuine smile and gently released me from the precious cargo I’d been carrying since my father dropped me off at the front of the school on his way to work. St. Peter’s was only a few city blocks from our home and my older brother and I would normally walk to class together each day in the rain, sunshine, or snowfall. But, this was the first day of May. This was a very special day in so many ways. This was a ride to school kind of day!
Upon settling into our rental home on Lafayette Street near the Ivan Lebamoff Reservoir Park two months earlier, we found St. Peter’s Parish to be very welcoming and it was easy for me to settle into a happy routine of school life, as well as home life. Maybe it was the juxtaposition of springtime and another long-distance move that helped to ease any doubts I may have had about being able to fit in with the kids in my new class. With the love and guidance of Sister Rose Marie as my teacher, I was able to seamlessly acquire ‘acceptance status’ within my new second grade class in only a few weeks.
By the time my class began discussing our May Day plans of where the altar was to be set-up, the songs we would sing together in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and who would be chosen to crown Mary on this special day, I expected that this newbie would be forgotten among the shadows cast by the brooms and mops located in the classroom’s back closet.
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FRIENDSHIP HAS NO COLOR, GENDER OR HIDDEN AGENDA |
When Sister Rose Marie announced that we would all be voting that afternoon for the girl or boy who would crown Mary on May Day, my enthusiasm reached out to Josephine, Cathy, Linda, and Elizabeth. These girls were beautiful, so friendly, and fast becoming my partners in recess activities and future sleepovers at my house. It was exceedingly difficult for me to decide for whom I should cast my vote because many of the boys generously reached out for my friendship, too, helping to teach all of us that friendship has no color, gender, or hidden agenda.
Around a half an hour before the final bell was to ring out our departure for the day, we were asked to jot a name down on a small slip of paper, fold it in half, and place it in a well worn, felt hat being passed down each aisle. To give our suspense even more potency, we were told we would find out the results after mass in the morning.
The following afternoon, I can’t even remember feeling the pavement beneath my feet or the slight drizzle that misted my entire body on the walk home from school. I scrambled through the backdoor shedding coat and book bag while desperately calling out for my mother. After all—she truly had the most important job of all in the next few days. My mother was to make the small, circular crown of fresh and colorful blossoms that I was to place on the top of the statue of the Blessed Virgin for the May Crowning celebration in my classroom!
I, the new kid, was selected by her new friends to take on one of the most celebrated honors I could have ever imagined in the eyes of the Church at that particular time of my life.
My mother’s talents rose to this immensely important occasion. After constructing a small circle of thin wire with several lengths twisted together for stability, she wove absorbent material throughout the twisted wire frame. Carefully pulling apart strands of blue hydrangea, her favorite flower, she used silver tweezers to arrange the delicate blooms in and around the petite structure until the wire and paper were completely camouflaged in a soft blue haze of tiny blossoms. And for the pièce de résistance, she finished the project by inserting three, long strands of narrow satin ribbon, the colors of cotton candy, at the back of the crown. These were to flow down the back of Mary’s veiled head and soften the blue folds of her immovable clothing. This crown was perfect. My mother was perfect.
Presenting Mary with a handmade crown of blossoms at the May Crowning was an honor and a privilege for me. My heart told me not to feel such joy because of the pride I’d felt at placing my own mother’s crown on Mary’s head, but because Mary is a Mother—your mother, my mother, and everyone’s mother and she cares for us day in and day out without fail.
Happy May Day. Happy Mother’s Day. Happy time of growth, rebirth, and springtime in all its glory!
Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
