Celebrating Mother’s Day

You probably aren’t surprised that more people eat at restaurants on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year—followed by Valentine’s Day.

If you enjoy historical research as much as I do, you might want to know more about this holiday. So here’s the real deal regarding Mother’s Day.

The idea of an official celebration of Mother’s Day in America was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe in 1872.  She became famous with her Civil War song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Anna Jarvis is actually recognized as the Founder of Mother’s Day in the United States. She never married or had children herself. However, she got the inspiration for celebrating Mother’s Day from her own mother Mrs. Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis, an activist and social worker. Mrs. Jarvis expressed a desire to have a day set aside to honor all mothers, living and dead, and pay tribute to the contributions made by them. 

 By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union, and on May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.  Mother’s Day is now celebrated in several countries including the US, UK, India, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and Belgium. People take the day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and thank them for all their love and support. Sadly, Anna Jarvis became disillusioned by the commercialization of the holiday.

Today mothers are honored with many kinds of gifts: cards, perfume, jewelry, candy, flowers, plants. If a mother is a reader, books are great Mother’s Day gifts, either print or digital.

But what many of us who are mothers appreciate most is simply spending time with our children. Sharing a meal like a brunch or dinner together is one way of making the day special. If children live and work too far away to visit, a phone call is always appreciated.

My gift to other mothers this year is a free read--since this is International Short Story Month as well.

For a Mother’s Day story try “The Art of Listening.”

http://litbreak.com/the-art-of-listening/

I wrote the story in memory of my own mother and it’s more fact than fiction.

 BEYOND THE BO TREE is a collection of ten romantic short stories of all types and lengths. Amazon offers the first one, “The Phone Call,” as a free read:

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Bo-Tree-Tales-Romance-ebook/dp/B00DTV0750

For a humorous flash fiction story, take a look at “Bacon Bits” in SAINT RED:

https://stred.squarespace.com/magazine-archives-volume-3/2015/12/18/bacon-bits

What are your thoughts regarding Mother’s Day? How do you think this holiday should be spent? My intention is to spend time with my children and grandchildren.