BY- JAYA CHOUDHARY
Mother’s Day has been observed for hundreds of years now. The origins of Mother’s Day can be traced back to ancient Greek spring festivals, which paid homage to Rhea, the mother of their gods. However, the mother’s day that we have all grown to recognise and love has a distinct meaning.
In 1900 in the US, before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis started groups like the mothers’ Day Work Club that helped the local women take care of their children. Later, these clubs merged and participated in a variety of peacekeeping activities. Anna Jarvis, her daughter, wanted to commemorate Mother’s Day as a way to honor the sacrifices that mothers make for their children. Anna is said to have heard her mother pray when she was 12 years old that in time there will be a memorial day for mothers for all the good they do.
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When Anna’s mom died in May 1905, she never forgot the prayer, and the idea for a holiday was born. In May of 1908, she had a large party with thousands of people and distributed white carnations, which were her mother’s favorite flowers. West Virginia was the first state to designate the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day in 1910. Anna convinced Congress to accept the holiday after a ferocious letter-writing effort. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
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People began to celebrate mothers with a lot of fanfare as the years progressed. They forgot, though, that the holiday was about recognizing and honoring the countless sacrifices mothers make for their children, not just about presents and sweets. Mother’s Day had been so commercialized by 1924 that the holiday’s founder petitioned to have it abolished. Anna was arrested in 1930 for causing a commotion at a Mother’s Day carnation auction.
Regrettably, Anna spent the remainder of her life and family fortune fighting for the holiday. She passed away in 1948 with no children to recall her. Today mother’s day has become one of the most profitable days for florists and the phone company. This probably would not have pleased Anna, but deep down she would have to be satisfied that on her Mother’s day millions of moms around the world receive extra love and attention.