Mother’s Day History and Tribute to My Favorite Moms
Happy Mother’s Day to All you Beautiful Women! We are a special group of selfless human beings. As soon as we have our first child, we drop to second place. In my case – I spent a lot of years in 6th. One of the reasons I love my husband so much is because he started in 5th place, was soon dropped down to 7th and never complained. Poor guy stayed there for a long time. In the last few years, he has been moving up in rank as the kids have moved on and out. These days he bounces up and down between 3rd and 4th depending on who is around or if our Bella is home from college.
Mother’s Day is supposed to be the one day that perhaps we are put first? With that being said, I don’t feel I need a day to be honored. I believe nothing gives us Moms more pleasure than sitting back and watching the fruits of our labor (literally), go forth, be happy and in my case … multiply. The only gift I really need is to watch my children succeed in the life they have chosen.
Since I am writing this post, I thought it made sense to know how Mother’s Day came into existence. Everyone I asked this week, had no idea how it started. After some research, I discovered that I have never been more proud to be a woman and a mother. I think you will find this interesting too…
History of Mother’s Day
There are many stories on the origin of Mother’s Day, going back hundreds of years. The Catholic version is Mothering Sunday, which is the fourth Sunday of Lent. Traditionally, it was a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants, were given a day off to visit their mother and family. How it came to be in America is another story of the strength of women. There are a few different women who were the impetus for establishing this day of honor for us all.
Julia Ward Howe was a poet, peace and civil rights activist, and a suffragette. She felt there should be a council of mothers with different nationalities helping to make decisions for getting involved in wars. Julia Howe believed since it was women who gave birth to the children, they would better understand what the loss of a child would be by bloodshed. She wrote this and more in the Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870.
The proclamation was in protest to the civil war and extended to women who lost their sons in the fighting. Her version of Mother’s Day started as a day of advocating for peace. It was popular for years but eventually died out.
Anne Jarvis was an Appalachian woman who birthed 13 kids. Only 4 of her children survived to adulthood. The others died of typhoid, measles, and diphtheria. Due to the circumstances, she lived in and through her grief, she started a Mother’s Day Work Club.
This club was started in an effort to educate women on sanitation and overall health in their families. A major part of the initiative was the sanitary conditions of their water. Her hope was these measures would decrease the mortality rate of poor children. This same movement helped the soldiers of the Civil War during Typhoid outbreaks. Imagine the strength of such a woman using her grief to have such an impact!
Anne Jarvis, also known as “Mother Jarvis” and a Sunday School teacher, organized women’s brigades during the Civil War. She would do all she could to heal the rift between her confederate and union neighbors. Mrs. Jarvis spent her life honoring and empowering other mothers.
A Daughter Honoring Her Mother
Her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis, recalled as a child hearing her mother pray at a Sunday school lesson. Her prayer was for someone to start a day to memorialize and honor mothers. This memory stuck with her and a year after her mother’s death, Anna Jarvis announced plans for a memorial service. In 1908, she organized the first official observance of Mother’s Day, coming near the anniversary of her mother’s death.
The Mother’s Day observance spread to churches all over the country and in 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed the official proclamation. An American tradition was born and celebrated on the second Sunday of May. All three of these ladies given credit for making Mother’s Day a part of our history.
Anna Jarvis was upset when it became a “hallmark” holiday. She fought to change it back to its origin until she could not fight anymore. It was just supposed to be mothers honoring mothers and children honoring their mothers, not the billion dollar industry it became.
Mother’s Day started because of two strong selfless women and a proud daughter. Moms who used adversity and sadness in their lives and turned it into good. Anna Jarvis did not want the world to forget her mother’s great work and the impact she made on our society. A daughter who fought hard to make sure her mother got her wish and all moms would forever be honored for their selfless work. They set an example for us all to follow.
My Two Favorite Mothers
I am going to try and follow in those footsteps by honoring my mother and daughter. By applauding their selfless acts of making a more humanitarian world and promoting their good works. This is my gift to my two favorite Moms with a donation in their honor.
#1, My Mom
Roberta Cereghino Goodwin raised 4 kids on her own, working and supporting all without any help. She has been there for all of her children, through divorces and sickness and continues to do the same with her grandchildren. When Joey had leukemia, she never missed a single therapy appointment for 2 years. She was at the hospital every day when he was in quarantine for a month. This woman lived an hour and a half away from the hospital! She always puts everyone else first and has taught me all about sacrifice and being a mother. There is no stronger woman that I know personally and a great role model. I learned from THE BEST!
Some years ago, she was looking for a place to devote her free time and decided on the Regional Hospice and Palliative Care Center. It is a nonprofit that relies heavily on donations and volunteerism. They have 450 volunteers and are always looking for more. Regional Hospice was recently rebuilt as a one of a kind in-patient facility. Each room is a suite to accommodate and support the patient and families in peace and comfort.
My mother chose this path because she realized how much people need care and love at the end of their life. She has been volunteering at the hospice since 2001 and has been involved in many different capacities. Her favorite role is being a group facilitator. Two years ago she won a Presidential Silver Award for her work and set a goal to win the gold. She achieved that goal the following year by contributing 600 volunteer hours. Another life lesson taught to us – setting and achieving goals.
It takes a special person to work with grieving people day after day! It is truly a beautiful, peaceful and worthy facility. If anyone would care to donate to this worthy cause, please click: donate to hospice
After watching my mother volunteer for years, my brother, Ed and his son Zach followed in her footsteps. This is more proof of the amazing role model she has always been and continues to be.
#2, My Daughter
Christine has been volunteering for 5 years with a nonprofit organization, Villages in Partnership (VIP). Three of those years she served on the board, but recently had to step back because of her busy life. Her volunteering continues. My daughter started with VIP because of one of her students. She and 3 of her colleagues had started a club in school called WE CARE. This particular student, Tory, was a 7th grader in Christine’s class and a member of the club. Tory is involved in VIP with her Mother and WE CARE chose to lead a fundraiser to benefit Villages in Partnership.
The fundraiser was so successful, that Tory’s mother was moved to take Christine and her colleagues to Malawi to see their impact. The mission of VIP is to build relationships between the Malawi villages living in extreme poverty and the developed world. They implement programs to address the root causes of their living conditions, one of which is the lack of access to clean water.
I wish you all a special and blessed Mother’s Day. I am so proud to be part of an amazing group of people who embody strength and unconditional love.
