Mother’s Day History
Mother’s Day is a relatively modern celebration which began in the United States in the early 20th century. It was started by Anna Jarvis and was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna held a memorial for her beloved mother in her home town of Grafton, West Virginia.
She first began campaigning to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States in 1905, the same year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Reeves Jarvis was an incredible woman who saw problems in her community and found ways to solve them. She founded the Mothers’ Day Work Clubs in local towns to improve health and sanitary conditions. Jarvis’ clubs sought to provide assistance and education to families in order to reduce disease and infant mortality. During the American Civil War, Ann and her Mothers Day Clubs declared neutrality and provided aid to both Confederate and Union soldiers. This was just one act amongst a raft of others that Ann performed, but it, above all others, showed what a Mother’s Love truly is:
Irrespective of ‘what’ or ‘who’ we are, Mothers are Mothers the World over!
Anna’s mission was to honour her own mother and to set aside a day to honour mothers all over the world.
Mother’s Day Today
So, … Mother’s day is here again and there are so many ways of celebrating it. It is a time to honour and cherish the special bond of love that you and your mother share. A time to say “Thank You” for being My Mother, the one who gave birth to me, raised me, answered my questions (.. even if I did not like the answers ..), overlooked my failings and celebrated each milestone with me.
My Mother, my ‘Best Friend’, my ‘Number One Fan’ and who taught me what ‘Unconditional Love’ is.
So much to be thankful for ! So, … how do we do it, how do we say “Thank You” ?
Does it really matter? Not really, as long as what we do comes from the heart !
Anna Jarvis’s original intention was to appreciate and honour Mothers by writing a personal, handwritten letter to express ‘love’ and ‘gratitude’.
Times have moved on and most of us cannot remember the last time we wrote a letter by hand.
Whether we use a computer, tablet or a quill, as long as we make the effort and take the time to show our Mother’s just how much they mean to us, then whatever we do becomes the ‘Perfect Mother’s Day Gift’.
Whether it is flowers, a card, a lunch or dinner, a handmade gift or a favourite perfume,… just as long as they are all wrapped-up in a “Big Hug”, then you have the Perfect Mother’s Day Gift – the same gift your Mother has given to you every day of your life: “Love” !
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