Remebering Mothers Day 2010

Mothers Day celebrations hark back to 1872 when an American woman called Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace.
Then in 1907 a school teacher called Anna Jarvis set up a national Mother’s Day in honour of her mother and after tireless campaigning, in 1914 she persuaded US President Woodrow Wilson to proclaim the second Sunday in May a national holiday in honour of all mothers.
We in the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia also celebrate Mothers Day on the second Sunday in May and this year it falls on Sunday 11 May 2008.
Actually, the historians say that festivities for mothers are of very ancient origin going back to the days of the ancient Greeks and beyond. After the advent of Christianity, the early Christians held celebrations in honour of the Madonna, Mary, Mother of Christ on the fourth Sunday of Lent.
There is something very special about a mother’s love and have inspired those even in high places with US president Abraham Lincoln praising his mother by saying: ‘All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.’
Another great president, George Washington honoured his mother by saying: ‘My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am, I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.’
Andrew Jackson said about his mother: ‘There was never a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness…The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way.’
Happy Mothers Day to your very own mother and to all the mums of the world.

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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