Marketing reserach information always fascinates me.  Did you know that more purse-size packs of Kleenex are sold in the month of May, than any other?  Did you know that more families travel together in May than any other month? And, more Mac and Cheese is sold during the month of May???  Hmmmmmmmmmm.

When you think about it, it all makes sense.  May is a time of huge transitions.  It is a time of endings and completions and beginnings.  It just may be the most emotional month on the calendar. The need for kleenex and comfort food seems perfectly reasonable.  So, let’s take a look at what’s up.

Of course, there’s Mother’s Day.  Everyone who has a mother—or has been a mother—has a whole buffet of thoughts and feelings around this one.

Graduations are going on in every city and every state on all grade levels.  As parents watch their kids walk across the stage for that diploma—the tears and the cheers are bone deep.  Graduates are feeling a bit wobbly themselves…..particularly if they have not decided what they really want to do with that degree.  Millions of us are seeing life, flash in front of our faces—from diapers to diploma.  Where did the time go?

Except for Christmas and Thanksgiving, this is a time when all the family members who can be there—-are.  And, we all know what that means. The lists to be made.  The airlines to deal with. Hotels to book.  Meals to plan. The shuffling and shuttle-ing (is that a word?) and keeping everyone ‘in the loop” takes weeks of planning. Sailing down memory lane, remembering when Uncle Al needs to take his blood pressure medicine, and saving a whole row of seats.  Everything at once.

May is also one of the most coveted months for weddings—-right behind June.  That’s especially so in the South where the summer months can be sweltering.  Weddings, like holidays and graduations, bring family and friends together in a way that can create those cheers, tears and fears—all over again.

May is also the biggest month for retirement.  Another huge and tender transition for everyone involved.

So, if you know someone whose last child is about to graduate from high school, or who may have finally finished their college degree after putting it off for twenty years—Or if you know someone whose child is getting married or whose husband or father is retiring—-you might think about sending them a note or calling them to let them know you love them.  “I’m here, thinking of you.”  It would mean so much.