Giving Thanks to Mothers

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated in many parts of the world, most commonly in the spring.

First a little history from Wikipedia:

The modern American holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. Her campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her beloved mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Anna’s mission was to honor her own mother by continuing work she had started and to set aside a day to honor mothers, "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world." Anna's mother, Ann Jarvis, was a peace activist who had cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.

Due to the campaign efforts of Anna Jarvis, several states officially recognized Mother's Day, the first in 1910 being West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation creating Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers. In a thank-you note to Wilson Jarvis wrote of a “great Home Day of our country for sons and daughters to honor their mothers and fathers and homes in a way that will perpetuate family ties and give emphasis to true home life.”

A mother will nurture and care for us in ways that nobody else will in our lifetime. Not only will they do whatever they can to take care of our daily needs, but they also encourage, teach, discipline, console, protect and so much more. Mothers will try to ensure that a child's self-esteem can blossom in spite of any social pressures along the road to adulthood. They will put their own needs aside to make sure their child's needs are met. If they feel that their child is in danger they will become like a mother bear with her cub, protecting in any way they can.

Many of us are fortunate to still have our mothers in our lives, or a woman who fills that role, and we need to be thankful each and every day. Others have lost their mothers which leaves a void in their lives and their hearts. On Mother's Day this loss is felt even deeper than the rest of the year. The one thing that we all have in common is the fact that we are blessed to have known a mother's love.

So today I want to say Happy Mother's Day to mothers and surrogate mothers all over the world. You are truly amazing women, and the world is a better place because of you. Celebrate who you are and enjoy your day of praise.