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Living Section of the San Bernardino SUN May 11, 2003 Issue 
It seems that celebrations of motherhood of one kind or another extends back to the days of antiquity in Greece and perhaps even to earlier times, but my reference sources did not reach that far. The ancient Greeks celebrated and honored Rhea, the mother of all gods. And the Romans held sybaritic celebrations for Cybele, another mother goddess often identified as the Roman version of Rhea. In the 17th century the British began to celebrate Mothering Sunday but by the 19th century the holiday was almost forgotten. A version of Mother's Day, called Mothers' Work Days appeared for the first time in the United States in 1858. It was initiated by Anna Reeves Jarvis in West Virginia. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe, lyricist of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," began campaigning for a "Mother's Day for Peace." However, the real Mother's Day as we know it today, was initiated in 1907 by Anna Jarvis, daughter of Anna Reeves Jarvis. The first bill to recognize Mother's Day was presented in the U.S. Senate in 1908. But it was not until 1914 that the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution signed by President Woodrow Wilson to establish the Mother's Day holiday. As the Mother's Day celebrations gathered momentum commercially but not in real recognition of the value of mothers in society, Anna Jarvis complained: "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit." She thought that flowers and cards were poor substitute for "the letter you are too lazy to write." In my subjective view, she had a good point, at least half a point. I of course, would prefer to have a day off work - a real holiday. But in the absence of this, I prefer some heartfelt words of appreciation and love - not flowers (which wither and die all too soon) or breakfast in bed (after which I inevitably end up cleaning as I am the house scullery maid) or even brunch or dinner out (where I have to look at the bored and indifferent faces of so many other families out just to meet an obligation). Well, cards - depending on the sentiment -are actually acceptable to me. My most favorite and memorable Mother's Day presents from my son Zack are in the form of simple but powerful words. One is a huge card that says a simple "I love you MOM" which he gave to me when he was just learning to read. It hangs framed in a place of preeminence on my office wall. Another is a Lego "artwork" he made when he was perhaps four years old. It is a simple heart with MAMA below it. It too is displayed at a place of prominence in my office. In moments of frustration and dejection, they give me reassurance and perhaps an illusory sense of security. Now that he is older, I give him hints of what I would like - heavy-handed hints, for teenagers are notoriously forgetful. The present I would most love to receive from Zack is one of those beautiful little books with quotations that pay tribute to motherhood. I've even picked a few from which I hope he will select one. "Mothers, A Tribute," published by Andrews and McMeel, is one of those little gift books we see everywhere these days. It is illustrated with art by Mary Cassatt, Renoir, Vignee-Lebrun and other well known artists and full with quotes from famous writers: "Each mother is like Moses," wrote Pope Paul VI. "She does not enter the promised land. She prepares a world she will not see." And Balzac wrote, "A mother who is really a mother is never free." "For Mom," is another beautifully illustrated tiny gift book compiled by Jennifer Habel and published by Peter Pauper Press, Inc. that is loaded with quotations singing a mother's praises: "Romance fails us - and so do friendships - but the relationship of Mother and Child remains indelible and indestructible - the strongest bond upon this earth," wrote Theodor Reik. In the tiny gift books category there are also "First Aid for a Mother's Soul" and "Like Mother, Like Daughter" - a Cathy comic by Cathy Guisete. Slightly larger but just as beautifully illustrated are "For Mom with Love, A Book of Quotations," another Andrews McMeel publication, "Celebrating Mothers, A Book of Appreciation," edited by Glorya Hale and Carol Kelly-Gangi and "Momisms, What she Says and What She Really Means" by Cathy Hamilton. "My mother made a brilliant impression upon my childhood life. She shone for me like the evening star - I loved her dearly," Winston Churchill is quoted in the first book. And in the same book, Audre Lorde says about a mother, "she knew how to make virtues out of necessities." "Momisms" is a great little book containing clichés uttered by a mother sometime all over the world: "You're going to miss me when I'm gone!" and "I never talked to my mother like that!" Or "Don't make me tell you again." And "Am I talking to a brick wall?" and "You take after your father!" ("You get that from your father's side of the family."). These "momisms" are all very familiar to all of us. But the one that almost every one can identify with is, "they're just jealous, that's all - an 'ism' often uttered through clenched teeth as Mom plans the untimely, slow, and painful death of her kid's tormenters." The quote that I feel most apropos in describing mothers is a little poem by George Cooper: Hundreds of shells on the shore together, Hundreds of birds that go singing by, Hundreds bees in the purple clover, Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn, But only one mother the wide world over." Ophelia Georgiev Roop Library Director San Bernardino Public Library |
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