The history of Mother's Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honor Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother's festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers, and named it as the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother's Day.

In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favorite flowers, the white incarnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually the Mother's day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother's day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

Regardless of Jarvis's worries, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us but the Mother's day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother's Day at various times during the year, but some such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

O...means only that shes growing old

T...is for the tears she shed to save me

H...is for her heart of purest gold

E...is for her eyes, with love-light shining

R...means right, and right she'll always be

Put them all together, they spell "mother"...a word that means the world to me

by...Howard Johnson

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When God Created Moms

When the good Lord was creating mothers, he was in his 6th day of overtime.

when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Has to have 180 movable parts that are all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up, a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair, and six pairs of hands."

And the angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."

It is not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers haveto have."

 "Thats the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded..."One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks 'what are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows.   Another here in the back of her head
that sees what she shouldn't, but what she has to know, and of course the ones in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, 'I understand and I love you' ."

"Lord," said the angel, "go to bed, tomorrow..." 

"I can't," said the Lord, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already, I have one who heals herself when shes sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger, and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly, "Its too soft," she sighed.

"But tough" said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this mother can do or
 endure."

"Can it think?" said the angel.

"Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromies," said the Creator.

Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "Theres a leak." she pronounced. "I told you, you were trying to put too much into this model."

"Its not a leak," said the Lord. "Its a tear."
 

"Whats it for?" asked the angel.

"Its for joy, saddness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride."

"You're a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber........"BUT I DIDN'T PUT IT THERE"

God could not be everywhere;

therefore

He made mothers!