Mother's Day
Mother's Day
A good mother is a figure that triggers most emotions of love and gratitude. That is probably why most of the world honors the mother on a special holiday, often called Mother’s Day.
In the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it is observed on the second Sunday in May. These countries celebrate the holiday by giving gifts or organizing special activities for the mothers, such as outdoor picnics or indoor family dinners. The symbol of the day is carnation, first introduced by the official creator of the holiday, Anna Jarvis. In Australia, however, the popular flower is chrysanthemum, since it blooms there in May and is a word pun – with “mum” at the end. This tradition has developed over centuries, but the person who fought to establish it as a national holiday for the appreciation of mothers was the aforementioned Anna Jarvis.
The mother of the American Mother’s Day propagator was Ann Reeves Jarvis. In the 1860s she organized “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” and “Mother’s Friendship Day” herself. She sought to help women raise their children, and later encouraged them to promote peace during the Civil War. Her daughter, Anna Jarvis, swore to establish a holiday that would honor her and all the other mothers in America. Before she did, however, other notable people attempted to proclaim the day: Julia Ward Howe organized “Mother’s Day for Peace” in New York in 1872. Five years later, Juliet Calhoun Blakeley contributed to the Mother’s Day observance in Albion, Michigan. Another spokesman for the holiday was Frank E. Hering. A year after his 1904 official plea for observing Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis began to appeal to the wider public. In 1908, she managed to organize an official service commemorating the achievements of her mother and honoring all mothers in the Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. WV was her native state, which is probably why it was the first one to establish Mother’s Day as a public observance in 1910. Very quickly, other states followed. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson publicly proclaimed the holiday. Although it was a great success for Jarvis, she grew to despise Mother’s Day due to its increasing commercialization. Celebrations of Mother’s Day in Canada originated from the United States.
Australia and New Zealand followed the holiday trend, which was rapidly popularized in the world. The Australians, however, had their own Mother’s Day heroine: in 1924, Janet Heyden began to organize money for all mothers abandoned and living in hospitals and retirement homes. She incited the tradition of giving gifts during the observance in the country.
Mother’s Day is not a holiday that releases anyone from work, especially since it falls on a Sunday. It is an important observance, though. The Mother’s Day business, something that Anne Jarvis hated so much, prospers very well. The telephone lines and Internet connections in most countries are jammed, since children try to connect with their mothers and wish them all the best. There are gigantic queues in flower shops, and restaurants are full. People read articles on how to choose the best Mother’s Day gift or how to make a surprise, for example with breakfast in bed. Every year, on the second Sunday in May, mothers attract the attention that they deserve; the holiday inspires all sons and daughters to appreciate their mothers on a regular basis.