Happy Mother’s Day to all and today is a glorious day for celebrating our mothers.
I always think of my late mother on a daily basis in one way, shape or form, so for me, I guess everyday is Mother’s Day.
Often I find myself in a conversation with someone and we could be talking about food, for example, and I invariably would bring my mom into the conversation.
I’ve noted many times in this column on how my mom was an excellent cook and her baked goods, she would get the chef’s kiss. Everything was wonderful.
How often do we celebrate a holiday and never know its origin? Probably most of them, I’m guessing.
Mother’s Day in the United States has its roots in the 19th century, evolving from various local efforts to honor mothers and promote peace.
The holiday as we know it today is largely attributed to Anna Jarvis, who campaigned for a national day to honor mothers in the early 20th century.
Ann Reeves Jarvis, Anna’s mother, organized the earliest notable precursor in the 1850s. She created “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” in West Virginia to improve health and sanitation.
During the Civil War, these clubs promoted peace and unity, and afterward, she organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day” events to bring together families divided by the war.
Inspired by her mother’s activism, Anna Jarvis launched a campaign to establish Mother’s Day as a national holiday after her mother’s death in 1905. She held the first official celebration on May 10, 1908, at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia.
Simultaneously, a large event was held at a department store in Philadelphia, funded by philanthropist John Wanamaker.
Anna Jarvis envisioned the holiday as a deeply personal occasion to honor the sacrifices mothers make for their children. She emphasized handwritten letters and personal gestures over material gifts. Her efforts gained momentum, and by 1911, all U.S. states observed the day in some form. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation officially designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, a national holiday.
Jarvis became one of the holiday’s most vocal critics in later years. She was dismayed by the commercialization of Mother’s Day, particularly the profit-driven sales of greeting cards, flowers, and candy. She spent much of her later life protesting what the holiday had become, even attempting to have it rescinded.
Despite her protests, Mother’s Day grew into one of the most commercially significant holidays in the U.S. It is now celebrated with cards, gifts, flowers, and family gatherings. While the tone of the holiday has changed from Jarvis’s original intent, it remains a widely recognized day to appreciate and honor the role of mothers.
I would always try to get my mom something special for Mother’s Day, something unusual, if possible, but something she would really like.
The biggest joy I received was the look on her face when she opened a gift or a card from me.
What I would do to see her face and her reaction just one more time.
Of course, I thought of my mom a few days ago when the first American Pope was selected. She told me we may never have an American Pope, at least in her lifetime and she was correct. It didn’t happen in her lifetime, but it did in mine and it was a shocker.
I don’t believe I heard the name of Robert Francis Prevost from any of the commentators.
I was working at a newspaper job when the white smoke appeared and I missed it live. My sister Maria called me to tell me we had a Pope and my daughter Tiffany, who teaches at Wyoming Area Catholic School, informed me he is an American.
Maria said he came out to the balcony and he looked very Pope-like. I’m not sure what that is, but I understood what she was saying. Tiffany told me the whole school had the TV coverage on in all the classrooms.
I don’t know what it was that overcame me, but I felt like I was on a pro football team and we just won the Super Bowl. I’ve lived through a few conclaves in my lifetime, but this was the first time I got that excited. What was really crazy, when I heard he was an American, I got the chill bumps on my arms.
Watching the TV coverage on Pope Leo XIV has been, at times, electrifying. The crowd went crazy when Pope Leo came out to the balcony and when it was announced he was an American; it felt like it was a huge upset to put it in sports terminology.
I loved watching the TV interviews with his two brothers. His one brother has always called him Bobby from priesthood through being a Cardinal and he said he would always be Bobby. I guess it would be a bit strange to call my own brother Pope.
Congratulations and best wishes to Pope Leo XIV.
I’d also like to congratulate Scott Meuser, Pride Mobility Corp. president and CEO, after receiving the Titan of Industry Award this past Thursday at The Banks – A Waterfront Venue.
Sandy and Scott, two great selections.
Quote of the Week
“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” – Linda Wooten
Thought of the Week
“Our priority has to be to live the good news, to live the Gospel, to share the enthusiasm that can be born in our hearts and in our lives when we truly discover who Jesus Christ is.” – Pope Leo XIV
Bumper Sticker
“God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” – Rudyard Kipling
