Mother's Day

One of the early calls to celebrate a Mother's Day in the United States was the "Mother's Day Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe. Written in 1870, it was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The Proclamation was tied to Howe's feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.

International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time in the US on February 28, 1909. In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day," and created the Mother's Day International Association. Now, for nearly a millennia, we've been annually celebrating Mom's dutiful, loving role as creator, caregiver, teacher, guide, chauffeur, etc.

I, as dutiful son, have been scorning celebrating my Mom, Judy, for 37 years. I thought it might be nice to share some selected fond memories:

When I was little, good ol' Mom was always up for a fun game of hide-n-go-seek followed by a few hours of kneeling prayer time before lying down on clean bedding (no dirty pillows in her house!).

And I could never forget those numerous cooking lessons where she showed off her time-honored knife skills and sampled every one of my crazy concoctions with a smile.

After all, she was my biggest fan...

Mother always wanted the best for me and was willing to take great strides in making sure I would (make her look good) grow up to be a perfect gentleman. No sacrifice was too great...for me...

 

She always had time to offer hours of constructive criticism and helped me to hone my reflexes as I dodged heavy pans being flung at my head...

Mama taught me many life skills like how to properly clean the floors, hang my clothes, take a right hook and, once, even showed me how to use an axe...

It was really nice to have the opportunity to share so much quality time together. After all, a boy's best friend is his mother...

I know there is nothing she wouldn't kill do for me. 

Oh look! Speak of the devil. It must be time for another cooking lesson...

OK, so maybe the memories aren't all peaches and cream, but she started it by sobbing the first time she saw me after birth because I was "the ugliest baby she'd ever seen!" (true story). In all fairness, however, I'm a very hard person to mother as evidenced by me trying to gnaw my way through my own umbilical cord while still in utero. Despite all of this, we do know that if it really came down to it, we would always be there for one another if need be. Our relationship is best described by a quote from Sydney Smith:

It resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated, often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.

Happy Mother's Day Judy...

You know I worship the quick sand you walk on!