| Mother's Day is one of the most popular gift-giving | | | | United States it is customary to plant tomatoes on |
| holidays of the year, running a close fourth to Easter, | | | | Mother's Day. |
| Christmas, and Valentine's Day. We can trace this | | | | Upon her death, her daughter Anna Jarvis founded a |
| holiday back to ancient times when the mother figure | | | | memorial day for women that began in Grafton, |
| was greatly revered. | | | | West Virginia on May 10, 1908. The custom soon |
| In ancient Greece, the festival of Cybele, the great | | | | spread to 45 states until 1914, when President |
| mother of the Greek gods, was held around the | | | | Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's |
| Vernal Equinox which took place in the spring. This | | | | Day to remember the mothers whose sons had died |
| celebration was adopted by the Romans and | | | | in war. |
| celebrated between March 15th and March 18th. The | | | | Once the holiday was official, businesses began |
| Romans also celebrated Matronalia in honor of the | | | | turning it into a commercial venture. Anna Jarvis |
| goddess Juno which was also celebrated in the | | | | herself became an opponent of what the holiday that |
| month of March. Roman mothers were given gifts on | | | | she had begun had turned into but to no avail. |
| this day to show respect for them. | | | | Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year in the |
| In Great Britain and Ireland, they celebrate Mothering | | | | restaurant industry as most people take their mother |
| Sunday. This day always falls on the fourth Sunday | | | | out to dinner. Florists and gift basket companies also |
| of Lent and began as a 16th century tradition that | | | | make a profit as people buy these items to give to |
| people went to visit their mother church annually, | | | | their mothers. |
| often reuniting mothers with their children for this | | | | Again, the holiday that we know as Mother's Day |
| one day. As society became more secular, the date | | | | falls on the second Sunday in May in the United |
| was adopted as a time to celebrate and give thanks | | | | States. This date varies from country to country. In |
| to mothers. | | | | Norway, it is celebrated on the second Sunday in |
| In the United States, Mother's Day is celebrated on | | | | February, while in the former Soviet Union it falls on |
| the second Sunday in May. The American holiday was | | | | March 3rd. Great Britain still celebrates it on the fourth |
| loosely based on the British day and was introduced | | | | Sunday in Lent, while many Middle Eastern countries |
| by Julia Ward Howe, a social activist and poet during | | | | celebrate it on March 21st. Portugal and Spain |
| the Civil War who wrote "The Battle Hymn of the | | | | celebrates Mother's Day on the first Sunday in May, |
| Republic." She introduced the holiday as a way to | | | | while Mexico celebrates the occasion on May 10th. No |
| unite women against the war. While Howe was not | | | | matter what part of the world that you are in, there |
| very successful in this attempt, a young homemaker | | | | is some form of Mother's Day celebrated. |
| from Appalachia named Ann Jarvis attempted to | | | | No matter how commercialized this holiday has |
| improve sanitary conditions on both sides of the Civil | | | | become, for some women this day represents the |
| War by adopting Mothers' Work Day in 1858. After | | | | one time during the year that their families actually |
| the war was over, she used the day to try to | | | | appreciate them and may even say "thank you" for |
| reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. As a | | | | all that they do. We can hope to celebrate Mother's |
| remnant of this conciliation, in some parts of the | | | | Day for a long time to come. |