Another view: Rosey Mother's Day celebration a perfect way to honor special ladies By Annette Esterheld
As a young girl growing up in Georgia, I remember one of the tasks on Mother's Day, the second Sunday of May, was to go outside and clip white and red roses from the wild rose bushes that grew in our yard. Everyone but my dad would pin a red rose somewhere on their shirt or dress. Dad's was white and it was explained to me that his was a white rose because his mother was no longer living. On my mother's side, both her mother and her mother's mother were living so my mom got a red rose.
Then off to church we'd go with our corsages of sweet-smelling roses.
What I didn't know and have since learned from Googling Mother's Day is that the custom of the white and red flowers, usually carnations, dates back to 1908, a century ago. Ana Jarvis from West Virginia began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day and she persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, W.Va., to celebrate Mother's Day on the anniversary of her mother's death. She wore a white carnation and those whose mothers were living wore pink or red carnations.
But before Jarvis, there was Julia Ward Howe, writer of the famous song "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Howe had a proclamation for Mother's Day in 1870. Howe was upset with the Civil War and she called for mothers to protest and to hold a day that would celebrate peace and motherhood.
Prior to that England began celebrating mothers in the 1600s with what they called Mothering Day. That was the first time "real" mothers were celebrated. Workers would get the day off to travel to their hometowns to visit family and eat cake and give their mothers flowers.
Earlier on, European nations celebrated the Mother Church and before that ancient Egyptians honored Isis, their goddess who was known as the mother of pharaohs, and Greeks and Romans both celebrated the goddess Rhea, considered to be the mother of gods.
In the United States, Congress officially designated Mother's Day in 1914 and chose the second Sunday of May for the holiday. This Sunday is the 94th official celebration of mothers. Around the globe the majority of countries worldwide also celebrate, some on the second Sunday of May and others another Sunday in May or a specific date, like May 10 in India and Mexico.
It's kind of interesting to see how far back there's some kind of celebration for those of us who "mother" and are called mothers. We deserve it! I can say that speaking as a mother of three, the oldest now 30, mother-in-law to two and grandmother to one. And that doesn't count all the hundreds of kids I've mothered, read nurtured here, as a volunteer mom in about every arena you can name (soccer mom, den mother, library volunteer, music teacher, playground mom, Sunday school teacher - just to name a very few! Don't get me started.)
It's also interesting to note that florists say their highest sale days are in May and restaurants claim Mother's Day the busiest day of the year, a fact I don't dispute when I think of going out with my family to the many, many mother's brunches offered. Phone companies used to say it was also their busiest day and it still is a very busy day, just try to call your mom Sunday afternoon, but with e-mail, the numbers are down some.
According to Hallmark, 96 percent of American consumers take part in shopping for Mother's Day and retailers report it as the second-highest gift-giving day of the year, behind Christmas. Just in the United States alone there are over 84 million moms and retail sales for Mother's Day is an over $14 billion industry.
On a personal note I just discovered how unoriginal I am. According to one report I read, August is the most popular month in which to have a baby and all three of my children were born in August!
I have to admit the motherhood ride has been a bumpy one with its ups and downs and twists and turns like roller coasters, which I used to love riding at amusement parks. I think all mothers would have to say the same. There are the moments your children of any age are the nicest, kindest, most thoughtful, caring people and then there are the other moments that they are like the little girl with the one curl who when she was good, she was very good, but when she was bad ... No, not really "bad," just not doing what you want them to do when you want them to do it. I admit I have been a member of the Controlling Moms Club and I've belonged to other such moms clubs. I'm sure my kids could tell you reams about me and my mothering, but this is my column, not theirs.
My own mom is still living and though her body has slowed down, there's nothing wrong with her mind and she, too, could tell you a few stories about the gray hairs I gave her.
I've gotten away from the wearing of a red flower on Mother's Day, but I do treasure my mom. I like to think my children and their children, for the moment there's just my grandson James, treasure me also. Mothers are something we all share. We all have a mother somewhere, living or deceased. I'm glad that through the centuries we've come to celebrate mothers. Chocolate, cards and flowers! It's your day, moms. Celebrate!
