"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers, and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one Mother in the whole world." ~ Kate Douglas Wiggin
Mother's Day... A day to celebrate that unique person: Mom.
"Only mothers can think of the future," said Russian playwright Maxim Gorky, "because they give birth to it in their children."
The founder of Mother's Day was West Virginia's Anna Jarvis (1864-1948), who in 1905 made herself a promise at her mother's gravesite to establish a day to honor mothers, living and dead.
Jarvis said that mothers could never be thanked enough and with steadfast commitment created a way to celebrate "the love and gratitude we owe to those who gave us birth."
She envisioned the day as a quiet observance, at church or home and encouraged the remembrance of wearing and giving white carnations, her mother's favorite flower.
By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union. Congress passed a resolution in 1914, proclaiming the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day. Other countries--Denmark, Finland, Italy, Belgium, and Australia--also celebrate Mother's Day.
"Mighty is the force of motherhood!" celebrated Victorian writer George Eliot. "It transforms all things by its vital heart."
More MOTHERHOOD Quotations
Celebrate the unending light of Motherhood.
Like the Sweetness of Gardenias