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In Our View: Selfless Devotion

Mothers answer the call of countless duties, so just one day's gratitude falls a little short

The Columbian
Published: May 9, 2010, 12:00am

You know, when you think about it, we really shouldn’t have a Mother’s Day.

Wait, wait, wait … hear us out. Before you send that angry e-mail, listen to our reasoning. Because when it comes to honoring mothers and motherhood, is it remotely possible to fit all the accolades into one day a year?

Can we truly limit the honorific for our mothers? The thanks for countless hugs and loving smiles and clean clothes and delicious meals and kind words and shoulders to cry on? Is there any way to properly repay them for the bandage and gentle kiss that can soothe the most painfully scraped knee, or the words of wisdom that can soothe the most painfully broken heart?

Doesn’t it diminish the magnitude of maternal love and devotion to designate merely one day a year in their honor?

As the French novelist Honoré de Balzac once said, “The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”

So true. Therefore, we propose that every day should be Mother’s Day — an opportunity to thank “the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.”

That is how Anna Jarvis referred to mothers, and she is the one who came up with the idea for Mother’s Day. According to the legend, Jarvis’ mother, Ann, had expressed a desire to see a national day honoring mothers.

So Anna Jarvis became the driving force behind the first organized observances of Mother’s Day, on May 10, 1908. She spent the next several years writing letters in support of the idea, and in 1914 Congress officially designated the second Sunday in May as a day to honor mothers.

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As far as we know, there is no truth to the rumor that Jarvis owned stock in Hallmark Cards. Although it should be noted that the greeting-card company was formed in 1910 — two years after the initial observance of Mother’s Day. Something about necessity being the mother of invention, we believe.

And as we ponder the billions of dollars that are spent on Mother’s Day cards in this country each year, the cynics among us can scoff at the forced sentimentality that accompanies the modern version of the holiday.

Those cynics may take solace in the knowledge that Jarvis shared that cynicism. In 1912, she trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day.” But in later years, the founder of Mother’s Day grew to be dismayed by the commercialism of the celebration.

According to a 2008 story from The Associated Press, “Jarvis became known for scathing letters in which she would berate people who purchased greeting cards, saying they were too lazy to write personal letters.”

We agree, to a degree. But we won’t allow cynicism to diminish the meaning or importance of honoring thy mother. These days, roughly 150 countries have some sort of formal observation of either Mother’s Day or International Women’s Day.

And why not? As Tenneva Jordan said, according to quotegarden.com, “A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”

What Jordan was saying is that mothers have an endless supply of selfless devotion. Add that to all their other duties, often including a job outside the home in addition to their full-time job inside the home, and no single day can possibly do justice to that.

So go ahead and celebrate this Mother’s Day. Buy candy or flowers or cards. Spend time with your mother and give thanks for all she has done. But don’t forget to honor her again the following day or the following week or the following month. She has earned it.

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