Issue 19, May 10, 2015
Today is Mother’s Day, so Happy Mother’s Day to all.
First, a little history:
Back in 1905, Anna Jarvis of West Virginia, wanted to create a special occasion to recognize her deceased mother who had spent years caring for wounded soldiers of the Civil War (even those from the north). *Conversely, Father’s Day was developed by AT&T, as a way to increase revenue for their ‘collect calling’ division…ok, that’s not true.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation creating Mother’s Day to be the 2nd Sunday of every May. Interestingly, she insisted that ‘Mother’s’ be singular possessive. Therefore, every family recognizes their mother, not all the mothers of the world.
So now I’m recanting my earlier statement. Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom!! The rest of you have to fend for yourselves.
Fun facts about Mother’s day:
- In the vast majority of the world’s languages, the word for Mother starts with the letter M.
- In the countries comprising the former Yugoslavia, children tie their mothers up, and only release them, when the mothers have given the kids candy.
- About ¼ of all the flowers purchased during the year are for Mother’s Day.
- Carnations are the most popular. But, shouldn’t it be…wait for it…Mums?! Ha!!
- NASCAR has only ever run 2 races on Mother’s Day…The Players has no problem filling that vacancy, annually.
- The oldest age of a woman to have a baby was 65, on April 9th, 2003.
- The shortest span between 2 births that were not multiples by the same mom, was 208 days (September 3rd, 1999 and March 30th, 2000).
- The longest time between first and last babies by one mom is 41 years, 185 days (May 19th, 1956 to November 20th, 1997).
In closing, I consider myself to be extremely blessed to still have my Mom in my life. She has been a pillar of strength, guidance and love for me for over 50 years.
For those of you whose mothers have passed on, please accept my most heartfelt appreciation and respect that I know you carry for your mother.
