According to Wikipedia, “Mother's Day is a
celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence
of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the
world, most commonly in March or May. It complements Father’s Day, a similar celebration
honoring fathers.” This begs the question, “Where would we be without Mom?” This has to be a question that resonates
within all fathers, and has special significance with all fathers as we
celebrate Mother’s Day each year. As
important as fatherly influence is for young men, a mother’s impact through
compassion, care and love is equally important in the development of family
structure. As fathers, it is vitally
important that we share the significance of this tremendous day in honor of the
ladies in our lives that made it all possible.
We all have our own unique ways of celebrating this day. From sending flowers to breakfast in bed, to
the gifts the children just cannot wait for Mom to open, our involved and
accepting role as fathers plays a major impact into celebrating this day.
The United States celebrates Mother’s
Day on the second Sunday in May. Mother's Day was said to be loosely inspired
by American abolitionist and social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American
Civil War. Its original intent was to unite women against war. In 1870, she
wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. However
strong, she failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day
for Peace. Some credit is given to Howe;
however it is widely considered that Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker is
mostly credited with the implementation of Mother’s Day. When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named
Anna Jarvis started the crusade to establish a memorial day for women. The
first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908.
Grafton is the home to the International Mother's Day Shrine. Thus the custom of celebrating all mothers as we know
it quickly caught on. The holiday was declared officially by some states
beginning in 1912. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first
national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to honor mothers whose
sons had died in war. As with all
commercialization, Jarvis' holiday
was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world.
The Reverend Theodore
Hesburgh was quoted as saying, “The most
important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother”. Think about how incredibly important those
sixteen words are in the development of fatherhood and the development of
families. How we were raised by our
mothers to demonstrate dignity, show respect to all people, and how to
correctly treat the ladies in our lives are lasting impacts we as fathers use
to raise our own families. Without a
doubt, family structures have changed in recent times, not in all places are “The Walton’s” or what was once considered
the traditional family prevalent. However,
the lessons we all learned from our Moms’ love makes a direct impact on our
fathering skills.
I love the saying that
Mr. William Johnson, Chairman of the Coshocton County Fatherhood Initiative, has
often shared with groups that he is working with through FAMILY PACT and ALL
PRO DADs; “Love is spelled T. I. M. E.”.
Think about the best gifts you ever got that special lady, and I would
guarantee looking back now the most special gift is that gift of love, the time
you spent with them, honoring them.
I recently got to spend
some real quality time with my mom who just celebrated her 70th
birthday. She has always been there for
my two older sisters, my older brother and me.
She appreciates the simplest things in life. She lives by the Golden
Rule: treat folks like you’d like to be treated. My mom was not just the rock of our family,
in many ways she was the rock of our block growing up. She was the neighborhood mom if you
will. For some reason, even though we
really didn’t have the biggest or nicest yard on our block, our yard was the
place to be. Family is all that matters
to my mother. Family was not only her first priority it was her only priority.
Nothing ever got in the way of that. She has always put the rest of the family
ahead of herself. All she cared about was providing for our needs; having a
roof over our head, clothes for us to wear, and food for us to eat. Unfortunately for our family she has had to
do it alone for the last 22 years. I
think back to the fact that for over one half of my life, she has taught me how
to be a man, and hopefully a good father
through lessons of respect, and most importantly how to love others, especially
my wife and children. She has taught
lessons I am sure that she is not even aware of that I have learned and
implemented into my life. I look forward
to celebrating Mother’s Day not only with my own mom, but with Gretchen as
well. I hope she enjoys the gift of love
spelled T.I.M.E. that Kendall and Reese look to provide as much as I do.
Monthly Quote: "There are no adequate
substitutes for father, mother, and children bound together in a loving
commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how
well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of
things." ~ Gerald Ford
Monthly Challenge: Take time to list the top 10 qualities you have
learned from your mother that have helped to shape the person that you are
today. If possible, create and frame
your list. It is the perfect gift from
your heart.
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