Remembering Mom on Mother's Day

I did not think I would ever celebrate Mother’s Day after losing my own mother 18 months ago. It was my Unique Mother’s Day Gift to send a dozen yellow roses and two red roses(one for my sister and I) to her on Mother’s Day and another dozen yellow roses on her Birthday which was two weeks later. It became the month my mom loved most because she got to have her favorite flowers in the house the whole month of May and she knew I was thinking of her.

After her passing, I did one thing different, I contacted my florist and had the address for my annual Mother’s Day Gift to be sent to my great aunt and Mother’s best friend. I thought Mom would like that and that would be my Mother’s Day gift to honor her memory.

So I had Mother’s Day wrapped up or so I thought, that was before becoming part of Ms. Honey’s extended family. Now I have a whole new reason to celebrate Mother’ s Day and a new appreciation of the holiday. It is not just your biological mother that you are recognizing on Mother’s Day but all women who take on the most honored role of Mother. Yes, our own Ms. Honey, author of SurpriseArrivals.com newsletter- Honey’s Highlights, our honorary mom has given us a new purpose in celebrating Mother’s Day. Now what is going to be my new Unique Mother’s Day Gift…

So how did this Holiday to honor the Role of Motherhood come to be a part of the month of May. The United States congress approved Mother’s Day in 1914, and designated it for the second Sunday in May, and required that the President proclaim the Holiday every year shortly prior to its commencement.

Typically a family in the United States will devote Mother’s Day to activities in honor of Mom, whether playing games, going out to dinner, taking the weekend off or going on a walk in the park. Flowers are popular, dating back to the original celebration where Anna Jarvis handed out carnations to the church-goers. It is also common to give Mother cards and chocolate candies on her special day.

The concept of celebrating motherhood has been around since ancient times. The ancient Greeks paid tribute to Rhea (the Mother of the Gods) and motherhood in springtime – the most fertile time of year. Later, in the 17th century, England honored mothers on the fourth Sunday of Lent. This celebration was known as ‘Mothering Sunday’, and in England it is still observed.

In the United States, Julia Ward Howe suggested the idea of Mother's Day in 1872. Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, saw Mother's Day as being dedicated to peace.

However, it was Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia who is credited with bringing about the official observance of ‘Mother's Day’. She campaigned towards establishing the holiday as a remembrance of her own mother who died in 1905. Jarvis’ mother had, in the late 19th century, tried to establish a similar holiday (Mother's Friendship Days) as a way to heal the scars of the Civil War.

Two years after her mother’s death, Jarvis held a ceremony in Grafton, W. VA., to honor her. Jarvis was so moved by the ceremony that she began a massive campaign to adopt a formal holiday honoring mothers. West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mother's Day, in 1910. A year later, nearly every state officially took up the holiday. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed ‘Mother's Day’ a national holiday to be held on the second Sunday of May.

Today many ‘Mother’s Day’ celebrations are held throughout the world. Although they do not all fall on the same day, such countries as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, The United States, Australia and Belgium also celebrate ‘Mother's Day’ on the same day as New Zealand.(historical information provided by Wikipedia and Encyclopedia)

So there you have the condensed version of the how and who that brought this special day to Mothers around the world. So whether you are taking mom out for dinner or giving her a special Mother’s Day Gift, remember the most important part of this day is just being in her life.. Happy Mother’s Day , Mom.

About the author

Larry Richards, co-owner of Valmarich, LLC. Larry's career in the medical field, for the last 25+ years, has assisted him and his partner in developing a company that takes pride in providing the best in gift giving and special recognition in traditional and Unique ways. For

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