Re: Mother's Day ... Anna Marie Jarvis had the right idea

 

That's my Mom and me, when I was
about four years old. We used to check out books
at the Edina (Minnesota) public library
on a regular basis in those days.

    I don't think I'm the only person in the world who has a little trouble with Mother's Day.

    I should say I had a great Mother's Day this year. We got out on a pontoon boat, I cleaned up the beach area we oversee, and had a nice float, and then we visited with neighbors we hadn't seen in months.

    My kind of day.

    It hasn't always been so fun. Years ago, when I was in my late 20's, I wrote a newspaper column with a title like this one "Why I Hate Mother's Day." That was one column I'd like to take back because among other reasons, my future mother-in-law, a saint of a woman, questioned my sanity at the time.

    Well.

    Sanity aside, it's problematic to those of us who had somewhat dicey childhoods. I had a wonderful mother, by the way, but she became ill when I was in the fifth grade and wasn't an able parent after that. 

   Mom had the same blue eyes we five Cox children all have, and she was a scholar of sorts, loving, among other things, the country of Ireland. 

    All four of us girls have Irish names: Cathleen, Mary, Brigid and Deirdre (that's me!).

    In addition to the physical appearance, Mom taught me the importance of regular exercise. I can't remember when I wasn't walking with my mother. Period. 

    I walk to this day.

    Don Wooten, in the Sunday, May 12, 2024, Quad-City Times, wrote about this special day. Origins trace to Julia Ward Howe, author of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," as well as Juliet Calhoun Blakeley, of Michigan. The one who really pushed the topic was Anna Marie Jarvis, who as a schoolteacher was also a powerful public speaker and a much-loved activist, Wooten wrote.

    Anna Jarvis eventually interested a rich Philadelphia businessman, Sam Wanamaker, to her cause. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day to be the second Sunday of May, where it has remained since. 

    She and a sister eventually became scolds on the topic as they resisted the idea of special cards, and such.

    I don't have a problem with Hallmark cards as I buy them and receive them, regularly.

    It's just that on Mother's Day, I miss my own mother.

My Mom and her father, Eugene Hebner. He's 
also one of my role models; he walked on a 
regular basis and lived more than 99 years!