Rant #1,663: Mother, May I?

April has ended, and we are now in May.

Yesterday was May Day. Did you March around the maypole, or did you join in any protests for workers' rights on your Sunday?

I remember as a kid, we used to dance around the maypole on May 1, or May Day.

Then, all of a sudden, that practice was dropped forever.

I guess it was thought to be kind of communist for us to be dancing around the maypole in a democracy.

And I am sure so many of us protested yesterday, on what is a day off from work for so many of us.

As far as May, it is kind of an important month in my life.

On May 9, I will celebrate the 46th anniversary of my bar mitzvah, and on May 24, I will celebrate the 46th anniversary of my bar mitzvah party.

The reason they were separated was that there was some Jewish holiday on May 9 where you can't do any celebrating, and to satisfy my orthodox grandfather, we had to push back the party two weeks so that I could actually jump for joy that I was done and over with this thing.

I made myself so sick over this event. I was the first child, the first grandchild, the first of everything in my family, and I had to get everything just right.

And I made myself crazy in trying to attain perfection.

I actually made myself sick, and it was all due to nerves.

But then, on May 8, as I was sick as a dog, I watched the Knicks--with Captain Willis Reed limping onto the court--win their first of only two NBA championships that they have ever won, and it made me feel a lot better, gave me the confidence I needed to win my own championship with myself, and I nailed it.

I was still sick as a dog, but within an hour or two after doing my bar mitzvah speech, I was fine.

And two weeks later, the party was great, it was like this was my payback for having gotten through the speech, and I had so much fun. It stands as a great memory for me.

Another important event that happened to me this month is that on May 15, it will be the 28th anniversary of when I became a father for the first time, as my daughter celebrates her birthday on this day.

If my bar mitzvah signified that I had become a man, then my daughter's birth signified that I was not only a man, I was a man with responsibilities.

I wasn't just beholden on myself anymore ... I had a little kid to take care of.

And with my then-wife sick as a dog during the time of our child's birth, I remember those days vividly.

They thought my daughter was sick, and she was in an incubator for the early hours of her life. I knew in my heart that she was fine, but yes, I actually signed the papers for both my then-wife and my daughter, for the hospital to go to extraordinary circumstances, if necessary, to keep them going.

My daughter's problem had to do with the negligence of the attending doctor, and it probably had to do with my then-wife's illness as well.

But happily, they both survived this ordeal.

I remember my daughter as she was born. She had the blackest hair I have ever seen, and I remember feeding her and cleaning her for the first time.

I helped create this person? I still can't get over it.

Now she is in her late 20s, on her own, and I only see her once in a while.

But what can I say, her birth was one of the most extraordinary things I ever witnessed, and I won't ever forget it.

I became a father, and then, just nine days later on May 24, I became an uncle for the first time, as my nephew was born.

It was kind of funny that my then-wife and sister were pregnant at the same time, and it was kind of a race to see what kid was going to be born first, and be the first grandchild of my parents.

But with myself being the "first" in my family, I kind of knew that my kid was going to be the first.

So we kind of split it, as my daughter was the first grandchild, and the first and only granddaughter, and my nephew was the first boy.

It worked out fine.

So as you can see, May is a pretty stupendous month for me, featuring a couple of events that I will never forget.

I think we all have one of those months in our lives that is unforgettable, and for me, while I was born in late April, actually May is my month of moments, and June is very memorable, too.

So, happy May to everyone, and may these 31 days be good ones for you and your family.