This year Mother’s Day falls on May 10th. Normally around holidays like this one, you’d find stores packed with people trying to find the perfect gift for mom, grandma, aunts, and other mom friends and family. Due to the quarantine many people have gone online to order that special gift. Families that normally have lunches and parties will have to postpone celebrating this year and possibly other holidays. Students would normally spend this time in school making Mother’s Day cards with a million reasons why they love their mom. Handmade gifts are almost always loved and cherished…. except now. So what do you get mom during a pandemic? What about the ones whose mothers have passed away before or due to the COVID-19? What is the purpose behind Mother’s Day?

Well, Mothers have been celebrated as far back as ancient Greeks and Romans. Festivals would be held in celebration of the mother goddesses. Rhea was known for being mother of the gods, while Cybele was goddess of fertility.

The Mother’s Day that we know today was started in West Virginia by Anna Jarvis in 1908. It did not become an official holiday until 1914. Ann Jarvis, Anna’s mother, started mother clubs to teach moms how to care for their children. Later on she created a “friendship day” where moms met with soldiers from both sides of the Civil War to try to reconcile differences. Ann Jarvis’ daughter, Anna, created Mother’s Day after her mother’s passing in 1905 to honor mothers for all their love and sacrifices they give for their children. After gaining financial support, Anna was able to hold the very first official Mother’s Day in May 1908 in a church in West Virginia. After many years of trying to make Mother’s Day an official holiday, President Wilson officially made the second Sunday of May, Mother’s day. Not long after, like most holidays, Mother’s Day was picked up and commercialized. Anna’s version of Mother’s day was wearing a white carnation and visiting your mother or attending church services. It soon became buying flowers, gifts, and cards for moms. Anna had become so disgusted by this she spent most of her wealth suing companies and groups for using “Mother’s Day” as well as trying to remove the holiday from the calendar.

Now although Mother’s Day is celebrated differently all over the world we can all agree, it’s about the moms. With everything going on in the world today I believe moms just need to be reminded we love them. Gift or no gift, tell the special moms in your life how much you appreciate them. Stay home, wash your hands, and Face Time mom.