One thing EVERYONE OF US HAVE IN COMMON is that we have a Mother. The day to celebrate her is the second Sunday of May, which this year falls on May 9th.

Mothers Day is celebrated all around the world, but not always on the same day or with the same traditions. It has ancient roots, back to the Roman and Greek days of giving honor to the Mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. Early Christians in the United Kingdom and Europe celebrated “Mothering Sunday” the fourth Sunday in Lent. Mothers Day Work Clubs were formed about the time of the Civil War in the United States to help mothers take care of their babies. Around 1908 Anna Jarvis worked hard to establish a day honoring mothers (even though she was not a mother herself) and in 1918 Woodrow Wilson made it an official holiday. Later, Anna began to see this holiday as a very overly commercial holiday and worked hard again to try to get it taken down.

Mothers Day has grown into much more than even Miss Jarvis would have dreamed of. This day is the time of the most phone calls placed and the biggest day of eating out at a commercial restaurant (not sure if this year will hold true). It’s the third busiest day for flowers and a common thought is that you give red carnations to your living mother or white carnations to honor your mother who has passed on. The most popular gift to Mom is a card. A lot of moms will probably be gifted with almost all or all of the above. I would also say CHOCOLATE would not be refused on this day. Many young moms wish for a spa gift and time alone. Many other mothers wish for breakfast in bed (with no kitchen cleanup afterwards). Gifts of flowers, potted plants or hanging baskets are very well received. Remember, these plants are usually at their peak this time of the year and some care does need to be given to keep them looking great. Ask your flower provider if you have any questions on what to purchase. Most will be knowledgeable so you can get Mom the perfect gift. If Mom prides herself on turning plants to brown in a week or two, skip this idea and go to suggestions from the previous paragraph.

Mothers Day is a day of great joy for many, but also can bring a very deep feeling of sadness, especially if one’s mom is no longer with us. Bringing back all the great memories is not always the total answer but maybe thinking “I am here because of that person who gave me life” will ease the pain.

Not to toss ice water on the all the joys of Mothers Day, but today’s world events play into this celebration. We would have to have been in a totally sealed off place to not know what is happening and for the most part we don’t really know what is happening. A British Vogue magazine ran a story on how having a child might be “Environmental Vandalism”. We can ask ourselves, how can parents send their babies to join the flow of people coming to our southern borders. The risks are so very high and we struggle to understand how that could be better than where they were with their parents. I am not beyond screaming at the TV or newspaper every time I see the way us humans are treating each other. We are so not coming together and the value of human life is being played with.

Maybe with all that I have just said, the year 2021 will be the year we do something extra to honor our mothers in person or in spirit. Even if we only spread one tiny ounce of joy to someone and that person spreads joy to someone else, it would be a start to the healing of our very fractured world. The answers are not just going to float to us. We need to keep an open mind, look, study, do research and think things through. Also………PRAY!