I believed Mother’s Day was created by the likes of “Madmen” Don Draper and Roger Sterling, who hustled their clients, in this case FTD or Hallmark, into a surefire marketing bonanza. I could almost hear Draper’s riff about how even the coldest SOB would buy flowers and send a card to dear old mom once a year.
I was wrong. Mother’s Day was created by Anna Reeves Jarvis in 1908 and it became an official holiday in 1914. “Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.” https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day
Ironically, in 1920 Jarvis denounced the holiday for becoming too commercialized. She even filed lawsuits and lobbied to have the holiday removed.
Not everyone will be celebrating Mother’s Day this year, but for some, Mother’s Day will include moms, grandmoms and grandkids, many of whom could not be together last Mother’s Day. For those of us lucky enough to be reuniting with two or three—or maybe even four generations—let’s get up and do a happy dance.
There will undoubtedly be sadness in some families this year for those who lost a mother or grandmother to the pandemic or other circumstances. Some families are presently watching over mothers who are ailing. All of us at the Courier wish you strength and happier days ahead.
For my part, this is a Mother’s Day to dance about for many reasons. It is my first as a grandmother (Ella Jane, born May 5, 2020) and I can celebrate it recovering from a recent bout of cancer.
Our son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Katie, have been a constant source of joy and generosity of spirit, visiting often with EJ and their dog, Boosey. In 42 years of marriage, my husband, Larry, has enjoyed many happy dances with me, and has even danced for me, performing his barefoot Twyla Tharp-inspired Dance of Spring, which is hilarity-inducing every time.
So in our house there will be balloons and cake, laughter and funky beats.
All of us at the Courier wish you the same, or your version of a kickin’ good time.
