Happy Mother’s Day!
Maybe I’m just a Mama’s Boy, but I think you’re all with me when I say that Mom’s pretty much the best person on Earth! Right? I mean, Dads are great too, but I think the bond and connection between mother and child is first and foremost—after all, Mom is the person who lugged you around for nine months before she even knew if you were cute or not (and she did most of it with a smile on her face)!
The whole concept of Mother’s Day seems so indispensable that one might assume the day has been celebrated since the dawn of time—But, as understandable as this notion is, this is not the case.
No, Mother’s Day finally saw its official beginning in 1914 despite the day’s history which goes way back before the Civil War! It’s thought to have started as a Christian celebration called “Mothering Sunday”. Although this celebration referred to the “Mother Church” that parishioners would attend on Mothering Sunday, it somehow evolved into a celebration for ACTUAL mothers!
Ann Reeves Jarvis played a key role in the day’s development as she started the “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” which taught local mothers proper childcare. She also started “Mother’s Friendship Day” in which mothers met peacefully with former soldiers of the Civil War after it had passed.
Other key roles in the evolution of Mother’s Day include Julia Howe. She wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation” and also petitioned to make June 2 “Mother’s Peace Day”. And a woman named Juliet Blakely started a local Mother’s Day in the 1870s.
It took all the way until 1908 when the daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis, Anna Marie Jarvis set up her own Mother’s Day in tribute to her mother’s efforts with the Mother’s Day Work Clubs. When her holiday was a success after its first year, Jarvis spent the next six years lobbying to make Mother’s Day a national holiday.
It was President Woodrow Wilson who finally did something about it and announced the second Sunday in May National Mother’s Day, a thoughtful and considerate day to show our mothers our appreciation for them.
Make sure to let your mother know just what she means to you today. Thanks for reading!
- John