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Today is like many of the May 14ths of my childhood. It is both Mother's Day and my dad's birthday. Many of these combination May celebrations were also shared with a First Communion celebration. As each of the nine children in our family passed through the second grade, they made their First Communion. In addition two of my brothers were born during the month of May. All of these events occurred during the first two weeks of May. Truly a period of celebrations!
I don't remember the exact celebrations but they undoubtedly involved cake and, in the case of birthdays, candles. Gifts were secondary to the occasion and of more sentimental than monetary significance.
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For Mother's Day we would go to Woolworth 5 & 10 store with whatever we had saved from our allowance and pick out a gift for mom. Dime store jewelry and cologne were favorites. Those gifts were treasured as were the school crafted cards and gifts.
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First Communion gifts were usually a small missal and rosary set, black for boys and white for girls given by the parents. Grandparents and aunts and uncles might give a medal or other remembrance. This was in addition to the expense of a white dress and veil with new white shoes for girls and suits, ties and dress shoes for the boys.
I don't remember adults gifting each other for birthdays and holidays, and I am sure that our gifts for the birthdays of our parents were handmade cards and other small tokens of love.
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