Random Thoughts on Maycember and Graduations
Saving Seats, White Dresses and Edna Dolan's Tarragon Chicken Salad Recipe
Random Thoughts on Maycember and Graduations
Millennial Moms coined the term “Maycember” to describe the volume, stress and rush of so many school-related events crammed into a four-week period this month. I love it. Thank you, Millennial Moms.
I think my mom was the Queen of Maycember.
In the Satellite Sisters book, UnCommon Senses, published in 2001, my sister Julie calculated that our family of two parents and eight children had celebrated sixty-three graduations and prize days from twenty-one different schools, from nursery school to graduate schools, spanning the years 1957 to 1997. This does not include minor academic award ceremonies, sports banquets or final performances of anything.
Sixty-three events included rain, heat, humidity. They included bleachers, benches, stone walls, folding chairs, blankets on lawns, standing in the back. They included early morning processionals, noontime stadium events, afternoon teas and evening Mass. They included tarragon chicken salad, lemonade and white wine spritzers, a white sheet cake that said ‘Congratulations, Graduate” and that Hallmark Owl with the Diploma that my mother unfurled for every post-graduation meal. But they did not include tears, because who had the time?
Parking was always a problem. I’m sure parking is still a problem.
As the youngest of the eight kids, I have calculated that I spent about 25% of my childhood “saving seats” at these events. Holding down ten seats for hours without water, snacks or sunscreen -- because none of those things existed in the Seventies or Eighties. How did I survive?
How real was the graduation ennui? I literally didn’t even go to my own high school graduation. Hadn’t I already graduated from that high school in that long white dress? Or was that one of my four sisters? We all lost track.
As a result, I was surprised how emotional my sons’ HS graduations were. Who knew?
To quote my father, Jim Dolan, “No graduation should be more than an hour.”
To quote my mother, Edna Dolan, “Can’t you just try and be pleasant?”
My favorite time of year on social media is Maycember because I’ll take a family graduation photo over almost any other photo. I love seeing the full family effort at these celebrations and the relief and joy on the faces of the different generations. You did it all— from the helicopter parenting to getting Granny to the event to coordinating the color palate for the photo.
As one would expect from our generation, we have almost no Dolan family graduation photos.
Congratulations, Graduates. Well Done, Families.
The Edna Dolan Award for Achievement in Logistics goes to… all the Maycember Moms. Please step forward and receive your white wine spritzer.
Cheers,
Lian Dolan
Pasadena, California
Edna Dolan’s Graduation Chicken Salad
From Satellite Sisters UnCommon Senses
3 pounds of cooked chicken breasts
½ cup sour cream
½ cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise
2 celery ribs diced
½ cup shelled walnuts
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Shred Chicken into large chunks and transfer to bowl. Whisk sour cream and mayo together in a small bowl and then pour over chicken. Add celery, walnuts, salt and pepper to taste and toss well. Refrigerate, covered for at least 4 hours. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
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Sour cream AND mayonnaise, that IS a celebration! <3
I applaud the "Maycember" term, too. It was even crazier for me as speech pathologist in the schools, trying to get all of my work done in addition to all of these life milestones. My husband and I both have May birthdays, too. The birthdays were celebrated, but nevery anything big. I love the chicken salad recipe's "shelled walnuts" detail. Has anyone ever shelled a walnut?