Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day.

A little history lesson:

Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia. Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church. Jarvis’s mother, ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers during the Civil War, and who later worked to address public health issues.

The initial bill to create Mother’s Day as a recognized holiday was rejected by Congress, but by 1911, the Mother’s Day recognition had spread nationwide. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation making Mother’s Day an officially recognized holiday.

Grafton is about thirty miles south of Morgantown, home of West Virginia University and my alma mater. Today, St. Andrew’s Methodist is home to the International Mother’s Day shrine.