Here's to the merry month of May!

I love my birthday month of May, which I celebrate all month long with a hundred or so Main Street Birthday friends, starting with May Day, the Kentucky Derby, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, then Memorial Day. I can stretch out a celebration like nobody’s business.

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Are maypoles and May Day baskets still a thing? Fond memories of my youth with the playground tether ball pole transformed with ribbons for May Day and delivering little construction paper baskets of flowers to the neighbors.

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Last year was one of loss and an occasion of much-needed joy. Our family gathered for funerals for my brother and mother, but in between our oldest grandson’s wedding was a joyous celebration. My three daughters live states away, points east, west and south. So these kinds of gatherings are the only time all of us are in the same place at the same time. Often it’s a quick trip for the daughters with little time to simply visit and enjoy being together. Our last mother/daughter trip was to San Francisco two decades ago.

In a group chat before Christmas, the girls began talking about setting a date for spring for a mother/daughter trip. By the first of the year, they decided on the fourth week of April. We simply wanted to spend time together with no schedule or official functions and without spending too much time in airports or traveling.

So, last week we gathered in Chandler, Ariz., at the Crown Plaza Resort. There was abundant pool time since the first 100-degree days of the year coincided with the trip, wonderful restaurants in the downtown area, sightseeing in historic Scottsdale while riding cartoon animal scooters and touring the Desert Botanical Gardens. But the week was spent mostly talking, laughing, reminiscing, reconnecting and laughing some more.

I continue to be in awe of these incredible women who are my daughters. They’re all grown up, accomplished and contributing to the world. Hopefully, we’ll do these trips more often. It was a wonderful early birthday and Mother’s Day gift Alyssa, Melani and Sarah gave me ... time. We get so busy “doing” life we sometimes forget to simply live it.

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Full disclosure, I have no inside information or really no knowledge of any of the field of horses running for the roses in this year’s derby.

When I was a little girl accompanying my grandmother to Santa Anita, she told me to always bet on a gray. I’m assuming because there are so few gray thoroughbreds, but who knows? This year, there’s only one gray in the 20-horse Derby field, West Saratoga. I’ll bet it to win/place/show.

Now you know why I’m not a professional gambler and only follow the Triple Crown horse races for fun. Here’s to big hats, mint juleps, long shots, seersuckers, fast horses and $2 bets.

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Happy Main Street birthdays on the first day of May to Marlee Eldridge, Jeri DeLange and Suanne Harris. Tomorrow, Becca Atkinson, John DeLuca, Jan Bryant, Miranda Hamilton, Tre Lewis and Randy Hurt (70!) will blow out the candles. Randy Bates, Destiny Johnson, Jim Thorpe, Tracy Flaa, Peter Willits, John Hayes, Robbie Canfield, Brooke Harris and Becky Camarata celebrate Friday. Kay Poland, Kenley Link, Jeanette Bangs, Garrett Brown, Scott Hayden, Rand Wichman, Brittany Smith and Scott Jacobson put on their Kentucky Derby party hats Saturday. Cinco de Mayo birthday wishes to Robert Cliff, Liz Thorpe, Ben Miller, Joni McCroury, Carol Toomy, Lisa Peterson, Teri Farr, Angela Erickson, Faith Brodwater and Andy Fischbacher. On Monday, Dusty Flamand, Tamatha Dougal, Kristi Pope, Connie Clark, Steve Eachon, Jeff Rhodes, Meagan Guerreo, Dave Tester, Jerry Shriner and Karen Ouren celebrate another year. Lisa Aitken, Kris Phillips, Chris Moore, Randy Williams, Ruby Johnson, Pete Shepperd, Kathie Brack, Rob Rinard, Jr., Rena Pruitt, Ramona Kaiser, David Dasher and Phil Pyseky blow out the candles May 7.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.