We are most appreciative for all that Monique Martin is doing for us. We have entrusted her with something of colossal importance to us and are very pleased to have had the good fortune to work with Monique! Her work with us has been exemplary regarding how she interacts with us and how she shows us with her behavior that we matter to her and that we’re important. It is clear that she will do everything possible to assist us in every way possible to achieve our shared goals of totally cleaning up our credit reports and receiving vastly elevated credit scores. This will improve our lives in a very substantial way and we are very grateful to National Credit Federation and Monique for making us her priority!
There you go, you have two very devoted clients that truly appreciate all that you have done and will do for us in the future. We are totally reliant on you and feel very confident that we got the best person we could have gotten to process and complete this important task for us!
The first of May is a contradiction as far as days of observance go. It’s a holiday suffering from multiple personality disorder; one identity dedicated to strike and protest, the other embracing all things spring and frolicsome.
In the late 19th century, leaders of the socialist Second International were fighting for an eight-hour work day and they called for a global day of protest to be held on May 1, 1890. It has lived on as an international workers’ day, and has received renewed vigor in the United States with the rise of the Occupy movement. But this is a relatively new side of the date, which was celebrated as a pagan festival in pre-Christian times and peaked as a celebration in the Middle Ages. Honoring the Roman goddess of flowers, Flora, the date was also associated with other festivals, such as the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night. Marking the beginning of spring, May Day has long been celebrated to mark vitality and fertility — which means that early incarnations of the holiday involved all kinds of raucous debauchery. Along with the frisky antics, some other traditions were born as well, some of which are listed here.
1. May Day is probably best known now for the medieval tradition of “dancing the maypole dance,” a custom that continues to be practiced. Fair young maidens circle the decorated pole weaving together patterns of ribbons in the process. Hawthorne and Lily of the Valley are traditional flowers used for garland. Similar ribbon dances were performed in pre-Columbian Latin America and were later incorporated into Hispanic ritual dances.
2. The pole is thought by many to (not so subtly) represent the masculine, while the decorations of flowers, wreaths and ribbons are thought to symbolize the feminine. Although some scholars assert that sometimes a tree is just a tree — the pole was not a phallic symbol, but rather a nod to the sacred nature of the tree. The pole was traditionally made of maple, hawthorn or birch; the men of a community would select the tallest, straightest tree they could fine, and erect it in the village green.
3. The celebration of fertility and abundance led to couples disappearing in the fields and woods for a “roll in the hay,” so to speak — the practice of which promised abundance. In general, it was a day marked by a libidinous mood; excessive promiscuity encouraged increased fertility in general for the year to come.
4. Persecution of May Day festivities began as early as the 1600s, and in 1640 the Church ruled against the debauchery when the British Parliament;
5. Some beliefs held that May Day was the last chance for fairies to travel to the Earth.
6. Tradition dictates that washing one’s face in the dew from May Day morning beautifies the skin.
7. The giving of May Baskets has, sadly, faded since the late 20th century. Small baskets of sweets and flowers would be left anonymously on doorsteps to the delight of neighbors. (We vote for a revival.)
8. In Italy, May Day is regarded as the happiest day of the year, by some accounts.
9. Since 1928, May Day in Hawaii has been known as Lei Day, a spring celebration that embraces Hawaiian culture and in particular, the lei. The holiday song, “May Day is Lei Day in Hawai’i,” was originally a fox trot, but was later rearranged as a Hawaiian hula.
10. The international distress signal, “mayday,” has nothing to do with the first of May. It derives from the French venez m’aider, meaning “come help me.”
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