It’s Nice to be Important but more Important to be Nice
All hail the Ancient Greeks: Greece might be on the brink of financial ruin and dependent on other countries to bail it out these days, but it has a rich history of great contributions to the world. The Greeks gave us democracy, drama, music, and even proper manners. But more importantly a custom that began in Ancient Greece and continues to this day was mother worship, or as today’s version is referred, “Mother’s Day.”
In Europe several Sunday celebrations have been held including “Mothering Sunday.” International Women’s Day was first celebrated in the U.S. in more than 100 years ago. Julia Ward Howe's “Mother's Day Proclamation” was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. In 1912 Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases, “second Sunday in May,” and “Mothers Day,” and created the Mother’s Day International Association.
What to do for Mom: Flowers are always a good choice for Mom on Mother’s Day. Flowers can be given to a mother even if she is no longer on earth. For those whose mothers are but memories, Mother’s Day is a great day to visit the cemetery, tidy up the gravesite, place some new flowers around, and reflect about all the wonderful things she gave you, including your life. If you are still fortunate to have your Mom, flowers is still a good bet. My mother, who had lived through lean times, including the Great Depression, would say to me, “It is foolish to spend hard-earned money on a gift that will die in a matter of days.” Still she would smile and boast to her friends whenever she received the flowers.
Flowers, Candies, cards, and perhaps dinner out and/or breakfast in bed seem to be the most popular choices for Mom on Mother’s Day. But gifts should be tailored to your own mother’s circumstances. A working Mom, for example, might prefer to spend the day with her family, a stay-at-home mom might prefer the gift of having the day to herself, alone. Regardless of how you celebrate Mother’s Day, do something that will make your mother happy and proud.
Poetry for moms: The first is by Dimitri Shostakovich and is dedicated to those mothers who are with us only is spirit:
If I could give my mom the world
Or anything she wanted,
I'd give her my own heart and soul
And leave my own heart haunted.
I'd take upon myself her life
With all its strife and pain,
And let her ease into some space
Where she could live again.
The pain for me would not be pain,
At least not for a while;
For I'd be doing it for her,
And I would see her smile.
I wish that I could take her heart
And cleanse it with my tears,
And make her sorrow go away,
And answer all her fears.
I wish, I wish, but then I can't,
As I watch helplessly,
And take her in my arms and say
I wish that it were me.
But loving is a hard, hard way,
With all the pain it brings.
And yet there is no other way
To touch the heart of things.
Mary R. Hurley writes of her reflections of childhood:
Memories and Mother
When Mother came to our room
To tuck us in at night,
Her face would look so gentle
In the soft, bedside light.
And though we may not always
Have behaved our best that day,
She'd let us know she loved us
In a very special way:
An extra fold to the coverlet,
A little pat, a hug,
And we'd settle down to dreamland
Feeling safe and snug.
And of all the childhood memories
That there have ever been,
We love best to recall the times
When Mother tucked us in.
- Mary R. Hurley
Finally, a poem by Rudyard Kipling:
Mother o' Mine
If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
- Rudyard Kipling
Happy Mother’s Day to all who read today’s post.
A little blogging music Maestro... “Mama Mia,” by ABBA.
Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com
