This is the first year I don't get to hug and kiss my mother for Mother's day and it brings sadness to my heart. Thankfully I have many cherished memories and they will get me through this and all other days. Thinking about her and talking to her picture really helps and I have faith that one day I will be hugging and kissing her again.
Since I love to learn new things I thought I’d find out the history of this holiday dedicated to our mothers and share what I have found with you all.
Interestingly, there has been a lot of controversy over this day. It was spearheaded by a woman named Anna Jarvis who campaigned to have mother’s day as an official holiday in 1905 after her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis tried to do so years before. The first large scale celebration was in her hometown of Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908. For several years, more states were celebrating and Anna kept pushing for a holiday.
In 1914, under the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson, the United States proclaimed the second Sunday of May would be celebrated as Mother’s Day. Anna had achieved putting Mother’s Day on the calendar of holidays. A day dedicated to expressing love and gratitude to mothers, and acknowledging the sacrifices mothers make for their children. This is the reason why Anna was determined to keep “Mother’s” a singular possessive, as marked by the apostrophe before the “s”. Each family should celebrate its own mother.
In Anna’s vision, mother’s would be recognized with a single white carnation which is what she had lobbied with florists when pushing for the holiday. But the controversy happened a couple years later when she saw florists, candy-makers, card-makers and even charities using Mother’s Day as a way to make extra money. The commercialization defeated the purpose about celebrating the personal, individual connection between mother and child.
From 1920 and onward Anna fought to prevent businesses from profiting and later she lobbied to have the holiday removed from the calendar. She spent loads of money with lawsuits against anyone that used the Mother’s Day name in vain. Needless to say, by the time of her death in 1948 Anna had disowned the holiday, lost all her money, and died alone in sanitarium, with medical bills paid by people in the floral and greeting card industry.
To say Mother’s Day is commercialized is putting it mildly. 59% of Canadian’s will spend on average $111 on their mothers which equates to almost 2 billion dollars. Mother’s Day is also the holiday that generates the highest telephone call traffic and in the day when we were paying for long distance that accounted for a lot of revenue for the telco’s.
With three children and four grandsons of my own, being a mother/grandmother is the most rewarding role I have. I love getting hand-made cards, a text that comes out of the blue throughout the year just saying I love you mom, and a few flowers on Mother’s Day. It doesn’t have to be more than that. Whatever you do for the special women in your lives, remember first and foremost, say I LOVE YOU.
Ways to celebrate Mother's Day:
Take some time to plant flower with mom
Gather old and new photos and put together a short video or scrap book with a short message on how important mom is to you
Go for a scenic drive or walk and then take her for brunch
Make her a special meal
If you don't live in the same location send her flowers, chocolates and a card
Pick up the phone and call her
If you don't live in the same location, have a meal sent to her and do a zoom or FaceTime call and eat together
To all the wonderful mother's, grandmother's, aunts, step mother's, mother's-in-law and God-mothers, have an amazing day celebrating you and live life well always. To my momma, I'm blowing you kisses from afar.
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