Having a mother who is nearly 97 years of age has really put things in perspective for me, especially when other folks remind me how blessed I am to still have my mom in my life.
This Sunday is the big day, and with that being the case, I offer sincere “Happy Mother’s Day” wishes to all of you grandmothers, mothers, mothers-to-be, stepmothers or those who have “been like a mother” to someone in need of, well, mothering.
Over the last 10 years or so, I have used and reused a column I wrote long ago telling of the history of Mother’s Day. Each time I run it, I rework the introduction and conclusion a little to keep it a bit fresh.
For those of you who haven’t read it before, I hope you get a kick out of it, and I encourage you to share it with friends and family. For those of you who have seen the information before, I’m sorry for repeating myself, but ’tis the season for celebrating moms.
In doing some research about the beginnings of Mother’s Day, I found information on several websites, including mothersdaycentral.com . While perusing the details provided on that particular site, I discovered some very interesting information about the day we celebrate every year on the second Sunday of May.
Although I know there is much more to the story, below is some of what I uncovered:
It appears that Americans can thank Julia Ward Howe, the author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” for starting the ball rolling toward a day dedicated to mothers. As the story goes, Ms. Howe was so dreadfully upset by the deaths of so many young men during the Civil War that she asked our country’s mothers to unite and publicly oppose the senselessness of sons killing other mother’s sons— an act that left our country’s mothers inconsolable.
Doing her best to stop the bloodshed, Ms. Howe decried the need for an international Mother’s Day with the following message:
Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise all women who have hearts,
Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears
Say firmly:
“We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of
charity, mercy and patience.
“We women of one country
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says, “Disarm, Disarm!”
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice!
Blood does not wipe out dishonor
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war.
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions.
The great and general interests of peace.
Six years after Julia Ward Howe’s death, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed the holiday Mother’s Day into national observance, finally giving our nation’s mothers a day to call their own— the second Sunday in May.
Today we celebrate the day annually with giving mothers greeting cards, flowers, dinners, phone calls, presents, texts, Facebook messages, Skype visits and sweets. Those who no longer have their mothers visit local cemeteries, bringing flowers, plants and family members to help honor the lost loved ones.
My husband Steve and I are so fortunate to have my mother spending her golden years living so close to us. We thank the heavens for her good health, positive attitude and fabulous sense of humor. She is a blessing to us and to the rest of our family, and we think every day should be Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom, and a huge thank-you for all you do for us.
With much love, from your favorite kids, Neena Rose and Steve.
