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In 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson, acting on a joint congressional resolution, signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, the daily lives of women were world's apart from what they are in 2023.
At the time of Wilson, most mothers' lives were virtually cemented in the home environment as fathers toiled in the workplaces of that era, earning "pennies" compared with the paychecks of today.
But this weekend -- the special weekend each year when moms deservedly are being honored with cards, meals at restaurants, jewelry and flowers -- some of those mothers nevertheless will be at work helping to make their family's financial ends meet.
Of course, this also is a weekend when families, no matter how busy and otherwise occupied, spend some time reflecting fondly on how their deceased mothers influenced their lives in a positive way and, indeed, sacrificed in many ways on their behalf.
Meanwhile, those paydays that many mothers will be helping to earn this weekend, represent sacrifice, commitment and all of the other positive adjectives that can be bestowed upon them -- adjectives that likewise are due for stay-at-home moms whose necessary work in the home environment is by no means easy.
For this weekend's "first-time moms," hopefully they will have plenty of good reasons to enjoy this special time during which they will be in the proverbial spotlight -- likewise at this time each year ahead.
On May 5, 2016, Mirror reporter Walt Frank, writing about area merchants' hopes for a good week leading up to Mother's Day, quoted National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay, whose comment was as true during the past week as it was back then.
"It's clear that Americans want to honor their mothers this Mother's Day," Shay said. "Whether it's a special meal at her favorite restaurant, jewelry or a new smartphone, families are planning to indulge mom again this year."
Frank's article reported that total Mother's Day related spending that year was expected to reach $21.4 billion. It will be interesting to see how spending this year -- a year of many economic uncertainties -- will stack up against the 2016 pre-holiday expectation.
In May 2020, some news media published or otherwise focused on 10 Mother's Day facts provided by the online magazine Mental Floss, Reader's Digest and the U.S. Census Bureau. Several of those interesting facts:
-- The woman who in 1870 proposed a holiday honoring mothers was the same woman who wrote the lyrics to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." The aim of this Julia Ward Howe suggestion after the Civil War was to recognize peace and protest war.
-- Mother's Day has traditionally been the busiest day of the year for restaurants, although how this year will compare with this special day in the years preceding the pandemic is anyone's guess.
-- Hallmark produced its first Mother's Day card in the early 1920s.
-- Carnations were the symbol of Mother's Day when it began, and the floral industry promoted the idea of wearing a red carnation to honor a person's living mom or a white carnation to honor a deceased mom.
Every person walking this earth owes a debt of gratitude to his or her mother. Make the most of this day on her behalf, either through remembrance or celebration.