Happy Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is celebrated annually on the second Sunday of May.  It is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.  Many people give gifts, cards, flowers, candy, and a meal in a restaurant or other treats to their mothers and mother figures in appreciation.

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans.  Festivals were held in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele.  The early Christian festival known as “Mother Sunday” was celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent when the faithful would return to their “mother church”.  Over time, Mothering Sunday shifted into a more secular holiday where children presented their mothers with tokens of appreciation.  This custom faded and merged with the American Mother’s Day celebration dating back to the 19^th Century.

I was blessed to have a loving and caring mother who believed in instilling values and hope in her children.  Sometimes as a teenager I felt the required church attendance to be too exceedingly rigid as in ‘miss the Beatles debut on the Ed Sullivan Show!!!’, however it has been my faith that has sustained me on my life’s journey.  Now as my mother is elderly I am keenly aware of the missing in-depth conversations, advice and laughter.  She now dredges up the vivid situational details I have long ago suppressed, as opposed to remembering what day this week I am coming to visit.

I am aware that not everyone has a loving remembrance on this holiday.  For some it is a painful reminder of what was abhorrently absent in their lives.  I would encourage those wounded spirits that their Mother is the Universe – full of beauty, shining light, and fragrant flowers.  Open your heart and allow the spirit of a mother image to touch your soul.   I have, and it has proven to be extremely exhilarating!! My life today maybe lacking my own maternal nurturing, but it now contains a myriad of awesome loving and caring women.