Celebrating Mothers
The Financialist • Issue 101 • April 2009
BY VERA VLAOVICH BA CFP CDS
Honouring mothers goes back to classic Greek mythology. The goddess, Rhea, was known as the ‘Mother of Gods” of Olympian Gods and Goddesses. She was the goddess of female fertility, motherhood and generation. As the wife of Kronos (time), Rhea represented the eternal flow of time and generations, ease and comfort.
The Mother’s Day we now celebrate began in 1908 in the United States, where Ana Jarvis commenced a campaign to form a national Mother’s Day. Following her own mother’s passing, Ana honoured her mother by convincing their church in West Virginia to celebrate Mother’s Day on her mother’s spiritual birthday (i.e., the date her mother passed away). Soon, she and other mothers began a letter writing campaign to politicians, ministers and businessmen. Success finally came when, in 1914, then President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
As a mother to a 12-year-old son, I am blessed that my son, Gregory, chose me to be his mother. My son has brought me unconditional love, joy, frustration, fun, exasperation, laughter, adventure, hockey, baseball, trucks, bicycles, patience, loads of laundry, ‘Dr. Mom’, home-baking and most of all the wonder and fullness of heart through the eyes of a child. Every Mother’s Day, I wait with great anticipation for my son’s newly-crafted gift. They are always my favourites and are gently stored in a treasure box. We’ll see what this year brings.
My own mother passed away some 24 years ago and I miss her as much now as I did then. She was my hero, my best friend, my intuit, my mentor, the glue that held us together. Mom was fun, loving, spontaneous and wise. I’m not sure when my mom became my best friend but I do know that we laughed and cried together and I have passed on much of what she taught me to my son.
EXCERPT FROM ERMA BOMBECK’S BOOK:
“When God Created Mothers, Grandmothers, Great Grandmothers, Godmothers” “…
‘Lord,’ said the angel, touching his sleeve gently, ‘Come to bed. Tomorrow...’
‘I can’t,’ said the Lord, ‘I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick…can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger… and can get a nine year old to stand under the shower.’
The angel circled the model of the mother very slowly. ‘It’s too soft,’ she sighed.
‘But tough!’ said the Lord excitedly. ‘You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.’
‘Can it think?’
‘Not only think, but it can reason and compromise,’ said the Creator.
Finally the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the cheek. ‘There’s a leak,’ she pronounced. ‘I told You. You were trying to put too much into this model.’
‘It’s not a leak,’ said the Lord, ‘it’s a tear.’
‘What’s it for?’
‘It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride.’
‘You’re a genius!’ said the angel.
The Lord looked somber. ‘I didn’t put it there.’
Happy Mother’s Day!