In today's world, Mother’s day has come to be internationally recognized as a day to both celebrate and honor all mothers. The official Mother's Day holiday arose in the early 1900s as a result of the determined efforts of a woman, who ironically enough never became a mother herself.
In 1905, a woman by the name of Anna Jarvis, was coping with the loss of her very own mother when she conceived the notion of Mother's Day. Jarvis yearned to carry out her Mother's wishes of having a day set aside just for mothers as a way of honoring the sacrifices that mothers, much like her own, had made for their children.
The original celebration involved wearing a white carnation as a badge, visiting one's own mother and attending church services. Jarvis, had chosen the white carnation, as it is a symbol for those who have passed away. Following the success of her first Mother's Day celebration, Jarvis resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar in the United States of America. Anna spent years campaigning for her cause which included a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians. After establishing the Mother's Day International Association, many churches, towns and states began to adopt Mother's Day as an annual holiday. It was a major stepping stone for Jarvis who believed most American holidays had been geared towards male achievements. Many years of hard work and persistence paid off in 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. Canada quickly followed suit in 1915.
Today Mother's Day is celebrated in almost 50 countries around the world. It is celebrated on different days in May and in some countries it is celebrated in entirely different times of the year. Countries such as Spain, France, Sweden, France, Rome and Yugoslavia have established rituals and celebrations for generations. Rome in particular celebrated a spring festival called Hilaria, dating as far back as 250 B.C. The festival was dedicated to their other goddess named, Cybee. Her followers would make offerings at the temple, hold parades, play games and have masquerades for a total of three days.
Mother's Day, in modern times is as every bit as grandeur as Rome's three day celebrations. Total spending is estimated to reach 14 billion dollars worldwide, on gifts such as gardening supplies, housewares, taking mom out for dinner, flowers, jewellery and spa services. It is estimated that one-fourth of the flowers purchased on all the holidays, are purchased on Mother's Day. In addition to gift giving, phone calls to mothers to give well wishes are keeping phone lines busy across the world. In the United States alone over 122 million phone calls are made on Mother's Day.
Peter Rogers, of VIP Communications Company states, "We found that Mother's Day is far and away the most popular day to place phone calls across the world, registering more calling traffic than any other holiday, including New Year's and Valentine's Day."
Since its beginning, Mothers day celebrations have grown across the world. It seems as though there are no wrong or right ways to celebrate Mothers Day. Whether you buy a gift, bring her flowers or make a phone call, it doesn't matter. After all, it is the thought that counts.
