Just a Thought: It is Mother’s Day
By Steve Walker
Today we celebrate Mother’s Day. It
is the day we honor our mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence
of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the
world, most commonly in spring in April or May.
Here
in the United States it is designated as the second Sunday in May which turns
out to be the 10th this year. Last year it fell on May 11.th
The
modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when a woman
named Anna Jarvis held
a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. She then began a campaign
to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States.
It took until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a
proclamation naming the second Sunday of May as a day for “public expression of
our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” This year
we celebrate the 101th anniversary
of Mother’s Day in the US.
When
we think of the sacrifice many of our mothers who have nurtured us all through
our life, we can’t help but be thankful to them and for them.
Look
at many of our successful leaders in San Antonio who have been significantly
influenced and guided by their mothers. When you think of former
Mayor and now HUD Secretary Julian
Castro and Congressman
Joaquin Castro you immediately think of their success and the
influence that their mother Rosie
Castro has made a difference in their lives. Both are graduates of
Harvard Law School and Stanford University. Rosie herself is well educated and
making a difference in the community on her own.
Then
we have mother Millie Duran,
the Founder of the La Prensa Education Foundation which has raised millions of
dollars for scholarships. Just a few weeks ago the Foundation hosted the Annual
Scholarship Gala. Millie is the wife of La Prensa Publisher Tino Duran and
mother to sons David, Steve, and Tino Jr., plus two daughters Barbara and Nina
Duran. Nina now serves as an adjunct instructor at San Antonio College.
According
to history Jarvis the founder of “Mother’s Day” became very disappointed with
its commercialization by the 1920s. Her mission was to honor her mother with an
official Mother’s Day, not commercialize it in her words. Obviously it became
so popular it was eventually adopted by numerous other countries and is now
celebrated all over the world.
In
Mexico for example the government of Alvaro Obregon imported the Mother's Day
holiday from the US in 1922 marking May 10th every year as
Mother’s Day, with the newspaper Excelsior holding a massive promotional
campaign for the holiday that year.
In
this tradition, in the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards began creating and producing
Mother’s Day cards so each person could offer a gift, card, or remembrance
toward their mothers, grandmothers, and/ or maternal figure on that special
Mother's Day.
We
have come a long way in one hundred years celebrating Mother’s Day. Just a
suggestion would be to give your mother a “Happy Mother’s Day” card if you
haven’t already and perhaps take her out to dinner to a nice
restaurant.
As always, I write just thought.
Steve
Walker is a Vietnam Veteran, former
Judge and Journalist
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