Mother’s Day is More Than a Holiday
By C. Ron Allen
This past weekend we celebrated Mother’s Day.
I’m not sure about you but I was left thinking that for all that mothers have to do, they deserve more than just one day.
At least, we must understand that Mother’s Day is more than the second Sunday of May in each calendar year.
My observance began at a luncheon at Pompey Park. The brothers of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Kappa Alpha Psi partnered with the City of Delray Beach Parks and Recreation Department to recognize the members of the Seniors Club.
I later went to Lake Ida Park where five area women were honored as KOPMN’s 2013 Mothers of the Year. They were selected from a group of nominees. Each was honored because they gave unselfishly of themselves to young people in their communities. For the next 12 months, these ladies will wear this honor proudly as they represent the cream of the finest in motherhood in Palm Beach County.
Like mothers all over, these ladies received flowers, proclamations and other goodies. And because mothers so deserve, an estimated $14 billion was spent in the United States for Mother’s Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation. That includes $2.9 billion in meals, $2.5 billion in jewelry and $1.9 billion in flowers.
To put that sum in context, it’s enough to pay for an elementary school education for all 60 million girls around the world who aren’t attending school. That would pretty much end female illiteracy.
As I listened to the reasons the honorees were selected, Mother’s Day is simply not long enough.
I heard how beautiful motherhood is as well as challenging from inception to birth; from infancy to childhood; from childhood to the teen years and from the teen years to adulthood.
I also learned that all along that journey, a good mother’s mind, soul, and spirit are fully engaged in nurturing, teaching, loving, chastising, and directing her child.
She does this so that child can become a sensitive, productive, God-fearing man or woman, possessing such values as honesty, integrity, will power and a solid spiritual foundation.
It is normal to encounter pain, pleasure, disappointments, successes and failures along this journey, yet a good mother never gives up on her child, in spite of circumstances.
Having heard that, let’s face it, Mardi Gras lasts for at least three days. The entire month of May is dedicated to hamburger. What are mothers, chopped liver? Mothers deserve at least a fortnight celebration, however long that is.
Christopher Columbus gets a whole day devoted to him. And all he did was discover the New World. He never had to tend to a colicky baby in the middle of the night. He never had to shop for a prom dress with an indecisive teen. And he never had to chaperone a field trip of unruly third graders. His overseas voyages pale in comparison to the experience mothers endure. Try finding a new route to the bathroom every few minutes in a crowded theme park with a kid who “really has to go.”
Abe Lincoln gets a whole day. Well, these honorees taught in the public schools for more than 60 years combined, they created initiatives and programs for local kids and they exposed these children to places and things they normally would never experience. In fact, one of the honorees has never given birth. Yet she gives of her time, money and love every day to improve children’s lives.
What did Lincoln do to deserve an entire day? Oh sure, ending the Civil War was a big deal and preserving the unity of our country was important, but mothers end wars and preserve unity on a daily basis. They perform hostage negotiations, infiltrate dangerous territory (teen bedrooms, need I say more?) and they are diplomats in every sense of the word.
