~ Mother's Day ~

W. Dayton Wedgefarth

Dear gentle hands have stroked my hair
And cooled my brow,
Soft hands that pressed me close
And seemed to know somehow
Those fleeting moods and erring thoughts
That cloud me day,
Which quickly melt beneath their suffrage
And pass away.

No other balm for earthly pain
Is half so sure,
No sweet caress as filled with love
Nor half so pure.
No other soul so close akin that understands,
No touch that brings such perfect peace as Mother's hands.

Mother's Day is not one of those days created by Hallmark and the other greeting card companies just to sell cards. The day actually dates back in its earliest forms to ancient Greece as the day that they honored Rhea, the Mother of the gods.

Through the centuries the idea of honoring Mother turned towards the church and the honoring of the Mother Church, but in England in the 1600s, Mothering Sunday was born. Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent to honor all the Mothers of England.

Mother's Day petered out again for a couple of centuries and the next time the honoring of Mother was proposed - it came from American, Julia Ward Howe, who wrote not only the Mother's Day Proclamation but also the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Howe's Mother's Day, first celebrated in the United States in 1872, was a day dedicated to peace. Howe held organized Mother's Day meetings annually in Boston, but in most other areas of the country, the day didn't really catch on.

Mother's Day, as we know it today, came about thanks to the efforts of Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia. She persuaded the minister of her mother's West Virginia church to celebrate a Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death - which happened to be the second Sunday in May.

Jarvis and her supporters campaigned businessmen, politicians and ministers to establish a national Mother's Day, which it was in 1911. Then President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed Mother's Day in 1914.

Mother's Day caught on rapidly, but by 1923 had become highly commercialized. Jarvis was angered by the commercialization and filed a lawsuit to put an end a Mother's Day festival. She felt the day was not meant for profit, but for sentiment.

Jarvis died at the age of 84 and never became a mother herself, but she received cards from around the world on the day she helped to establish.

If your mother is living, wear a red carnation.
If your mother has passed away, wear a white carnation.

Brunch: a combination breakfast and lunch typically served between 11 AM and 3 PM.

Tell your Mom how much you love her--and why.
Give her a great big hug.

There are other ways that we celebrate and honor Mom. Besides wearing a carnation - flowers have become a staple gift for Mother - along with card. Other options include a spa day or weekend or dinner out with the family. In recent years coupons have become a popular gift from the kids to do the chores that Mom does (at any time of the year) to give her a chance to kick back and relax or watch a movie or listen to music.

Mother's Day: According to Erma Bombeck
Mother's Day Shrine

I'm going to give you until the count of three.
I don't care what "everyone" is doing, I care what YOU are doing!
Don't use that tone with me!
Someday your face will freeze like that!
What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?

Look at me when I'm talking to you.
Were you born in a barn? Close the door -- and DON'T slam it!

Don't EVER let me catch you doing that again!

I don't know is NOT an answer.

No.

Money does NOT grow on trees.
Don't make me tell you again.
I'm not going to tell you how to spell that when you can look it up in the dictionary!
Eat your meat.
Speak up; I can't hear your head rattle.

Do as I say, not as I do.

Act your age.

hope someday you have children just like you.

Don't talk with your mouth full!

Enough is enough!

I'm going to give you until the count of three.
As long as you live under my roof, you'll do as I say.
You must think rules are made to be broken.
Don't cross your eyes or they'll freeze that way.
Don't sit too close to the television, it'll ruin your eyes.

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

Close the door behind you -- were you born in a barn?

If you don't clean your plate, you won't get any dessert.

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

And the all-time clincher...
Why? Because I SAID so, that's why?

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The button set on this page is NOT to be used on any other page. These are my personal graphics, created specifically for my pages. .

Background from:

Graphics by:
HOLIDAZE with EMMA ~ Flamin's Florals ~ Anne's Place ~ Clip Art of Mothering

Fancy Fonts from:
Captain Raider's Font Repository

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