On May 9, 2021, the United States will be celebrating Mother’s Day; a day dedicated to appreciating the hard-work and generosity of mother’s everywhere.
The Origins of Mother’s Day in the United States
In 1908, Anna Jarvis decided to hold a memorial for her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis. Anna’s mother had been a peace activist during the Civil War and cared for the wounded on both sides during the fighting. West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state, became the first state to recognize a day to honor mothers in 1910. In just a few short years, several more state’s had added Mother’s Day to their list of holidays. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation creating Mother’s Day as a national holiday. It would be celebrated on the second Sunday of May each year.
Mother’s Day Traditions
Today, more greeting cards are sold for Mother’s Day than for any other holiday. More than 150 million Mother’s Day cards are purchased annually in the United States, totaling more than $650 million a year. Additionally, more than $2 billion worth of flowers or roses are purchased in the United States. The flower that has become the most associated with Mother’s Day is the Carnation; where a white carnation represents a mother who has passed, and a red carnation symbolizing a mother that is alive.
Church attendance has also become a major part of Mother’s Day tradition. Church attendance on Mother’s Day ranks third, only behind Christmas and Easter services.
Celebrate Your Mother’s
Most children abuse the privileges granted to them by their mothers. The love, honesty, and friendship a mother offers too her child cannot be replicated in such a purity with another person. Only a mature few understand how much hardship a mother has to undergo throughout her life in order to allow her children to benefit from her sufferings.
Although every day should be a commemoration to mother’s, Mother’s Day give’s people the opportunity to shine a spotlight on their mother’s by spoiling them on this special day.