Fri, May 10 2013

Mother’s Day began nearly 150 years ago in the United States when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community. She believed it would be best advocated by mothers so she called it “Mother’s Work Day”. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday. At first, people observed Mother’s Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents and flowers. Anna’s daughter was outraged because she believed the day’s sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. She attempted to file a lawsuit to stop a Mother’s Day festival and was even arrested for disturbing the peace. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the Mother’s Day tradition. Despite Jarvis’s misgivings, Mother’s Day has flourished in the United States. Mother’s Day is celebrated the second Sunday of May and has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers. Happy Mother’s Day from CoverQuest!

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