“Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything” – Unknown
As I alluded to last summer when I unveiled some of the new features at The Book of Juan, I noted that I was bringing back A Mother’s Love. I started the series as a one-off special in 2018 and it was well-received with the stories of motherhood from Sheree, Marsha, and Dedra, respectively. In making the series a permanent annual fixture on this blog, I’m inviting 5 mothers to share their unique stories of motherhood. This year, the contributors are Cassandra, Selina, Maricel, Yolanda, and Lisandra.
The history of Mother’s Day, as I’ve learned in further research since I wrote the 2018 introduction, goes all the way back to Reconstruction. Ann Jarvis organized committees such as Mother’s Friendship Day, which had the purpose to reunite families that had been divided during the American Civil War, and Mother’s Day Work Clubs, which worked tirelessly to improve sanitation and health for both the warring sides amid a typhoid outbreak. Ann dreamed of an annual day of celebration for mothers all over but she died in 1905 before seeing it come to fruition. Her daughter, Anna, took up the mantle and pressed forward with the creating the special day. A small memorial service on May 12, 1907, in Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia is where it all started. Three years later, it was celebrated as an official holiday in West Virginia, and on May 8, 1914, Congress passed a law marking the 2nd Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, complete with a proclamation from President Woodrow Wilson. Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated in 187 countries around the world…96 of them on the 2nd Sunday in May.
For me personally, Mother’s Day is a special day in which I acknowledge the fantastic efforts of the varying degrees of mothers in my life. Of course, it all begins with my own mother and other women who have been like a mother to me. I mentioned them in 2018 but that includes Mama Sanders, Grandma Sallie, and even Pastor Marishawn Anderson. Of course, my wife Mercedes is a mother I recognize on this special day as is my younger sister. I have several close friends and associates who are mothers…like Lisandra, Deondrea, Jade, and Michaela among a long list.
I’m forever grateful for the vital role that mothers play every day. Napa Auto Parts once had a slogan that asserted they kept America running. I would contend that mothers keep society running. As our first loves, I think we’d cease to exist without them.
Take a moment tomorrow and check out the wonderful stories in the 2022 installment of A Mother’s Love. Be sure to leave a comment to let these wonderful women and marvelous mothers know they are great.
