TODAY we celebrate Mother’s Day just as we have done every year. And by doing so, some would say, risk losing the importance of such a day. The present day celebration of Mother’s Day, according to Wikipedia began in 1908 when a woman named Anna Jarvis organised a memorial for her mother Ann Reece Jarvis, a peace activist who used to take care of the wounded soldiers of the American Civil War.
After her mother’s death in 1905, Anna Jarvis began gathering support for her ideals to set aside a day in honour of all mothers because she believed a mother is “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”.
By 1911 all US states observed the holiday, with some officially recognising Mother’s Day as a local holiday.
The day is now celebrated in most countries around the world on the second Sunday of May. It is a day set aside to express respect and love towards mothers.
It is that special time of the year that allow us to honour our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, single dads who also take up the role of motherhood and acknowledge their role in our communities and the country as a whole.
For some of us, today is a time to pamper that important woman in their lives. For others, it is just like any other day. The sun rises, it sets and life goes on.
Talking about life, it is such that some of us may not have our mothers with us as they have passed on. So they will say there is no real reason to celebrate or observe Mother’s Day, or any other day, for that matter.
If that is the case then here is a thought. Each of us, let’s say most of us, have an enduring memory of what their mother meant to them — their countless love, dedication and devotion.
What was it that made her someone so special.
And for today, and why not every other day, we try our very best to bring that quality to life in our families, with our workmates and our friends.
For it is said that those who have left us do not do so completely, they continue to live in the lives of those who were close to them.
Their way of thinking and doing things, their motherly advice, their lessons on how life is to be lived endures because those who were close to them saw in it a gem of the truth; that it was indeed good.
So Mother’s Day can be celebrated in several ways but it definitely must not only be for a day for our mothers were constant in our lives and that is how we must honour them, by constantly being someone special to those we often come into contact with.
Happy Mother’s Day to you all.
