The Mother Of All Days

My adopted mother Helen and me
just before she passed away [1966]
Tribute At FindAGrave
From "History Of Mother's Day"

Mark your calendars: This Sunday, May 13, is Mother's Day. And contrary to popular belief, the holiday did not rise up from the corporate brain trust of Hallmark and FTD florists. The day to celebrate mom has ancient roots.

The day can be traced to ancient Greece, which honored Rhea, mother of the gods, with offerings of honey cake, drinks, and flowers at dawn. The Romans built a temple for the mother of the gods, Magna Mater (Great Mother), and the Festival of Hilaria called for gifts to be brought to the temple to please the goddess.

In 17th-century England, early catholics reserved a day to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. By a later religious order all mothers began to be honored, and the day was christened "Mothering Sunday."

The holiday came to America when, in 1907, grateful daughter Anna Jarvis held a church service on May 12 in West Virginia to honor her late mother's work promoting women's groups for friendship and health. Within five years, almost every state was observing the day, and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson [an early Progressive and one of the WORST Presidents ever!] declared it a national holiday.

According to History.com, the tradition of buying flowers on Mother's Day started with wearing carnations to honor moms -- white for a mother who had passed, and red or pink for the living -- and grew to be a more retail event involving cards and gifts. Jarvis, who felt the commercialization did not fit the spirit of the day, spent the last years of her life trying to abolish the holiday she had started ...

As y'all have probably guessed, I'm not really into keeping holidays. ANY holiday. The Holy Bible and the Apostle Paul strickly warn about this and for good reason. Most of them are of pagan origin and they only detract us from the true message of salvation by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ, but, I digress.

Like most I do love my mother. Very much. Since I lost my adopted mother in 1966, I have hoped that by trying to live an honorable life that she would have respected, that I have brought honor to her name. What few memories I have of Helen are that she was a gentle, soft spoken, Christian woman. I still have her well worn Bible by my bedside. It's in the Kings James language so I don't read it often, much preferring a Bible that speaks in my native tongue of modern American. I get lost and tangled up in all the "thee's" and "thou's" in the old language but it is pretty to read. And it's nice to know that the hands that loved me and once held mine have once touched the very pages that I now touch. It helps keep the connection alive.

That said, Happy Mother's Day in Heaven mom. I miss you. Every day. I wish you could have lived just a little longer but thank you for being there as long as you were. I love you.