Happy Mother’s Day From The Jefferson County Post

Throughout history there has been a long standing tradition to honor mothers and motherhood. Today is Mother’s Day Sunday May 13, 2018. Mother’s Day falls each year on the second Sunday in May. Honoring mothers and mother figures around the world this holiday has a long standing history that made it into the beloved holiday it is today.

The holiday has been speculated by some historians as having its origins in ancient Greece with their traditions of festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. While these holidays might not have panned out well the tradition to honor mother’s persisted throughout history. Even in Medieval Britain servants were given the fourth Sunday of Lent to travel home and visit their mother’s. The holiday was aptly named “Mothering Sunday.”

Our more modern Mother’s Day finds its origins with Anna Marie Jarvis and the admiration that she had for her own mother. She actively tended to the wounded during the Civil War and would later become a social activist within her community. Anna remembered being twelve and hearing her mother express her wish for a day where all mothers could be celebrated for their efforts.

Anna wanted to honor her mother and her wish. After her mother died Anna become a activist within the community to have mothers recognized. Her efforts would pay off with Virginia being the first state to recognize and celebrate Mother’s Day in 1910.

The movement caught on and by 1914 the second Sunday in May officially became Mother’s Day. However, what transpired with the holiday’s celebrations next would not please Anna. Mothers were honored on the holiday with carnations and eventually the greeting card industry caught on and could begin making cards for Mother’s Day.

Anna Jarvis would see this a cheap excuse for people not to write their own hand written letters of thanks to their mother’s. Jarvis was also upset about the sale of cards and carnations suddenly believing the holiday to be too commercialized. Jarvis became a supporter of abolishing the holiday because she felt that its original motives had been tainted. She would be arrested for public disturbance at a carnation sale for Mother’s Day. Sadly, Jarvis would spend the rest of her life trying to abolish the holiday before she eventually died in 1948.

Today Mother’s Day has persisted as a holiday to celebrate some of the hardest working people in our lives, our mother’s. If you have a mother who is still living or a mother figure who means a lot to you take time to pick up the phone and call them today. If fact telephone companies report that Mother’s Day is one of their highest call volume days. If you have the pleasure of living close to your mother or mother figure get them something or just stop by for a few minutes for a visit. Whatever you end up doing today, please take the time to honor those who sacrifice and give up so much of their time for us to have the best. Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at the Jefferson County Post.