Stahlke Adoption

May Day

From Wikipedia:

"International Workers' Day (also known as May Day) is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other countries."
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BUT, the United States celebrates Labor Day in September. Our landlady in eastern Germany wouldn't mind that, though. As a young person, she resented the required attendance at the May Day parades, and the school reps who made sure no students skipped. The militarism of the day bothered her greatly. She comes from a pacifist family, and her father and grandfather, both pastors, had resisted the Nazis during World War II.

In the early 1980s, she awaited the birth of her son, who was due in early May. Her labor began on May 1, and she told us she held off the birth until after midnight. No child of hers would have a birthday on May Day!

posted by Stahlkes @ 8:48 PM