It’s Mother’s Day. When Anna Jarvis trademarked the name in 1912, it is said that she specifically wanted it to be singular, rather than plural. Her intent was that individual Mothers would be celebrated, not all of the Mothers in the world.*
I don’t have the imagination to think of each individual Mother in the world. For that matter, this is not a holiday celebrated in all parts of the world. Even where celebrated, it isn’t always on the same day as here in the U.S. In my heart, though, I can embrace a segment of that population of mothers, those who live in extreme poverty (on less than $1.25 per day. Of the one billion people who will live in extreme poverty in 2015, my heart is open today to those who are mothers.
Although I don’t want to imagine being a mother who cannot feed her children and I can’t contemplate having my child die because I can’t buy medicine or pay a doctor, I can care about those mothers. I can be grateful that I didn’t have to be the child who couldn’t feed my ailing or aged mother.
It’s all too unthinkable, isn’t it?
Even less do I want to think of receiving a gift today. All I is need is your love. I don’t want a vase, or flowers to put into it. I don’t want a sweater or a plant from the nursery. Don’t buy me a mother’s ring or a necklace commemorating yours or your children’s birth.
Instead, if you must honor me with a gift, please open your heart to the mothers of the world. Send a check. Choose your favorite charity and alleviate a child’s hunger. Support health coverage for a family. Provide education to create sustainable change.
You can be smart about it. There are many organizations that rate non- profits: Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, Give Well, for a few. Or just know the people involved with the charities you support. See how they move through the world and you will know how their foundations work.
As you honor the world of mothers, I feel your love for me.
xxoo
Originally published May 8, 2014
*Source Wikipedia
A Letter to my Children 
Well thought out, and so well said! Thanks for this sound reflection and challenge on this day of an over abundance of sentimental outpourings.
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Thank you, Christin. I am sparked by a class, Change the World, on Coursera.org. It’s good to be reminded.
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Neither my son nor I have a mother to greet today. I have been both mother and father to my son who till he got married last August needed that kind of an anchor in his life after his first marriage ended in a divorce in 2004 after just three years of marriage. While when one comes across mostly women as single parents my job as one of the opposite sex, was quite challenging to get cynicism out of my son’s attitude towards relationships. In retrospect I think that I was able to gently get him out of his frame of mind and consider a long term relationship because I was able to get him to relate to his late mother and my late mother’s experiences.
We do not officially celebrate Mothers or Fathers Day here but commercial interests are trying their level best to make these occasions to spend money as they do St Valentine’s day too. I personally think that it is not necessary to have these special days.
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I agree that it is unnecessary, and still it is so embedded in the U. S. culture that it is going nowhere. Thought this was an interesting post from Leonard Pitts, Jr. It will reinforce your good feelings about being a father, I think. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/05/11/227131/leonard-pitts-jr-the-absence-of.html
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