There are a lot of stories and infamous personalities about how modern day Mother's Day celebration originally started.
Let's take a look at some of them:
Let's take a look at some of them:
Julia Howard Howe (Boston) - an activist, writer and composer of the Civil War song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" first suggested the idea of official celebration of Mother's Day in the US in 1872.
- Mary Towles Sasseen (Kentucky) - a teacher who began annual Mother's Day celebration in 1887.
- Frank E. Hering (Indiana) - a football player and coach of football, basketball and baseball who is named as the Father of Mother's Day when he made a proposition to "setting aside of one day in the year as a nationwide memorial to the memory of Mothers and motherhood" in 1904.
However, all their efforts did not gain national support. A woman who was never a mother herself is considered the Mother of Mother's Day. It was only in 1908 when Anna Jarvis (West Virginia) began a campaign in honor of her late mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis. Anna and her group wrote letters to ministers, businessmen and politicians. Their efforts were successful when the state first recognize the holiday in 1910. Finally, in May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution designating the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day.
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| Ann Reeves Jarvis |
As we celebrate this year's Mother's Day, let me share with you a short story...
This
story begins when I was a child: I was born poor. Often we hadn’t enough to
eat. Whenever we had some food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice. While
she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would say, “Eat this rice, son, I’m not
hungry.”
This was Mother’s First Lie.
As
I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a river near our house; she
hoped that from the fish she caught, she could give me a little bit more
nutritious food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fish, she would
make fish soup. While I was eating the soup, mother would sit beside me and eat
what was still left on the bone of the fish I had eaten; my heart was touched
when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to her on my chopstick but she
immediately refused it and said, “Eat this fish son, I don’t really
like fish.”
This was Mother’s Second Lie.
Then,
in order to fund my education, Mother went to a Match Factory to bring home
some used matchboxes, which she filled with fresh matchsticks. This helped her
get some money to cover our needs. One wintry night I awoke to find Mother
filling the matchboxes by candlelight. So I said, “Mother, go to sleep; it’s
late: you can continue working tomorrow morning.” Mother smiled and said, “Go to sleep son, I’m not
tired.”
This was Mother’s Third Lie.
When
I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother accompanied me. After dawn, Mother
waited for me for hours in the heat of the sun. When the bell rang, I ran to
meet her… Mother embraced me and poured me a glass of tea that she had prepared
in a thermos. The tea was not as strong as my Mother’s love. Seeing Mother
covered with perspiration, I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink
too. Mother said, “Drink son, I’m not thirsty!”
This was Mother’s Fourth Lie.
After
Father’s death, Mother had to play the role of a single parent. She held on to
her former job; she had to fund our needs alone. Our family’s life was more
complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our family’s condition
worsening, my kind Uncle, who lived near my house, came to help us solve our
problems big and small. Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken
so they often advised my mother to marry again. But Mother refused to remarry
saying, “I don’t need love.”
This was Mother’s Fifth Lie.
After
I had finished my studies and got a job, it was time for my old Mother to
retire but she carried on going to the market every morning just to sell a few
vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was steadfast and even sent the
money back to me. She said, “I have enough money.”
That was Mother’s Sixth Lie.
I
continued my part-time studies for my Master’s Degree. Funded by the American
Corporation for which I worked, I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump in
my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life in America but
Mother didn’t want to bother her son. She said to me, “I’m not used to high living.”
That was Mother’s Seventh Lie.
In
her dotage, Mother was attacked by cancer and had to be hospitalized. Now
living far across the ocean, I went home to visit Mother who was bedridden
after an operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heartbroken because she was
so thin and feeble but Mother said,“Don’t cry son, I’m not in pain.”
That was Mother’s Eighth Lie.
Telling
me this eighth lie, she died.
YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL!
M – O – T – H – E – R
“M”
is for the million things she gave me,
“O”
means only that she’s growing old,
“T”
is for the tears she shed to save me,
“H”
is for her heart of gold,
“E”
is for her eyes with love-light shining in them,
“R”
means right , and right she’ll always be,
Put
them all together, they spell “MOTHER”
…
a word that means the world to me.
*credits
to the author who happens to be “Anonymous”. No changes has been made to the original text.
I am grateful that my mother is still kicking at 67!
I would like to take this opportunity to THANK my mom for being not just my mother, but moreso my friend, supporter, number 1 fan, confidante, and name-it-whatever-you-may-want-to-call-it! Let me take you memory lane with some of our MOMents together captured in pictures...
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April 2009. BS Nursing graduation at PICC.
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