Why do we have only one day of each year to celebrate Mother’s Day?
First, a bit of history, unofficially, and with no present day fanfare, we need to thank Anna Jarvis for her long, ongoing campaign starting in 1905 when she held a memorial for her deceased mother. Also, Anna noted that Mother’s Day be spelled ‘singular possessive’ so each family would honor their own mother.
Why do we have only one day of each year to celebrate Mother’s Day?
First, a bit of history, unofficially, and with no present day fanfare, we need to thank Anna Jarvis for her long, ongoing campaign starting in 1905 when she held a memorial for her deceased mother. Also, Anna noted that Mother’s Day be spelled ‘singular possessive’ so each family would honor their own mother.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation for Mother’s Day to be an official national holiday to be celebrated on the second Sunday in May of each year.
Let’s each of us render a heartfelt tribute to the one mother who gave us birth and life.
I’ll start with my thankfulness to my mother for her tender, loving care for our whole family. One of the most important aspects was how she helped us all through the “Great Depression.” Besides raising and caring for my three siblings and me, mom worked at two jobs.
One job was in a “chili factory” from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. She was paid each night with a few dollars in cash and a few cans of chili and/or chili-beans. Our family thrived on beans for breakfast, bean sandwiches for lunch, and chili-beans for supper.
We also ate the cooked pieces of chicken, slices of ham, and the fresh fruits and vegetables that dad was often paid by his barbershop customers.
I’ve never forgotten that Mom also worked as a seamstress and even though she specialized in creating little girls’ party dresses, she sewed my first long pants suit I wore so proudly.
And a great tribute to the ever-loving, caring Mother of our three children who have all grown into honest, delightful, well-mannered, highly educated, nurturing parents of their own children.
“Mother’s” is meant to include all grandmothers, great-grandmothers, stepmothers, mothers-in-law, etc. Mothers are the care-giving women who nursed us through our birth, nurtured us through our growth into our maturity, and strived diligently with their spouses.
Let’s all give tribute to mothers whose sons and daughters have lost their lives and/or their limbs in their military service for our nation’s freedom and liberty.
I don’t know of any way I can list all the ways Mothers have given so generously to us individually, our communities, our country, and to their relatives and ancestors.
Cherish your mother. She was the only one who gave you life into your family.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, every day.
