I have been invited to spend Mother’s Day with Robyn at the home of her son, Kevin, whose brother Brian is flying here from California to celebrate the occasion with us. Of course, Robyn’s daughter Jill also will be there. So too, at least one, if not more, of Robyn’s grand kids – one never knows until the last moment with young adults.
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Mother’s Day in the United States has an interesting history. The Hallmark holiday we are familiar with today was originated by antiwar activists. According to National Geographic (“How Mother’s Day became its founder’s worst nightmare,” by Brian Handwerk (May 11, 2023), found at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/mothers-day-history-holidays-anna-jarvis), “in 1872. Julia Ward Howe, better remembered for writing ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic,’ advocated a Mothers’ Peace Day on which pacifist women would gather in churches, social halls, and homes to listen to sermons or essays, sing, and pray for peace.”
Today, Anna Jarvis, whose mother had personally participated in antiwar activities with Howe, is nearly universally regarded as the driving force behind the adoption of Mother’s Day as a national holiday, which occurred in 1914. Despite this, ten years earlier, Frank Hering, a Notre Dame faculty member and national president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, delivered a speech calling for a national day to honor mothers. And, in the best tradition of male chauvinists everywhere, his organization persists still in taking credit that Herring and it were the “true founders of Mother’s Day.” Emphasis added.
Jarvis was not only tireless in her efforts to achieve recognition for the holiday, but equally relentless when it came to taking personal credit for the achievement.
Yet, given that Jarvis’ original intent had been that Mother’s Day was to be a day for solemn and quiet contemplation, it is hardly surprising to learn that she was appalled by the commercialism that quickly grew up around it. Jarvis predicted that unless Americans were willing to protect Mother’s Day from the hordes of money schemers, “we shall cease having a Mother’s Day….”
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Her prediction could not have been more off-base or inaccurate. Today, mention Mother’s Day, and one immediately thinks of flowers, spa treatments, or gemstones. Then there are the cards, a Hallmark holiday indeed. As for my own Mother’s Day experiences, I recall one long ago Saturday afternoon when, as a young teenager, I had found myself scrambling in the late afternoon for a last-minute gift for my mom after my father quietly had reminded me, “Tomorrow is Mother’s Day!”
Before it closed for the day, I dashed to the nearby Walgreens to find a card. However, nearing the checkout line I observed a neat display of Ronco Veg O Matic devices, “as seen on television.” I could imagine myself seated at the kitchen table with a heaping plate of hot, delicious French fries, doused with ketchup, spread in front of me. On an impulse, I got one to give my mother on Mother’s Day, never mind that I couldn’t recall a single occasion she ever prepared hand-cut French fries. All I could think at the time was that now I have a perfect Mother’s Day gift for her.
Imagine my shock the following morning when my mother seemed less than enthused to receive my thoughtless, last-minute gift. “Why?” I thought. Perhaps it had been the Walgreens plastic bag I used for gift wrapping.
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On a food-related note, because no mother wants to spend time in the kitchen on Mother’s Day, it is the busiest day of the year for restaurants. The National Restaurant Association reports that more than one in four people go out to eat with mom; others will opt for takeout. This will be the case for us on Sunday when we get together.
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Lastly, I’d be remiss not to point out that Mother’s Day is, in one form or another, celebrated nearly worldwide and year-round. It’s how things should be for the most important person in every man’s life. So, to Robyn, and in memory of my mom and sister, here’s wishing moms everywhere a wonderful, commercial-free Mother’s Day!
