Gay N. Lewis: Mother's Day

MOTHERS

You don’t arrive on Earth without one.

Some are virtuous—the kind you wish each child had.

Others aren’t so honorable.

Let’s talk about women and their roles as a mom.

God's Gift to Humanity

A Woman

What day makes a husband scratch his head?

Mother’s Day! What to do to honor the mom to their kids? How did this popular, traditional day get started anyway?

A woman started the custom. Are you surprised? Probably not. Men acknowledge moms, their own, as well as the mother of their kids, but most wouldn’t think of a national day to do it.

Nope, a lady did it. Anna Jarvis began a “Mother’s Work Day.” She thought women were the best ones to promote health issues.

At one of Anna's first events, she gave each attendee a white carnation. White symbolized purity. Anna loved her deceased mom and wanted people to know it, but Anna came to resent the day. It became a money maker, and she regretted making it famous.

When I was a girl, the tradition of wearing a white carnation for a deceased mom became popular. If your mother was alive, you wore a pink one. I can remember my dad stopping at the florist to pick up our courages. White for my mom, and pink for my sister and me. He wore a pink boutonniere.

Today, I’d wear a white one.

I wish mine were living so I could honor her once more. I'd be adorned in pink.

I bought myself a bouquet of white carnations yesterday. I was thinking of all my "moms." My own mother, mother-in-law, two grandmothers, aunts, school teachers, and several women who were like a mom to me.

Have you given thought to someone other than your mom on this occasion? It must be difficult for some women on Mother’s Day. Those who are without children. While churches make a big deal of the day and families take mom to a restaurant, what about the lonely woman who has no one to do those things for her?

Think about the mom who gave her child up for adoption. Many of these women long for that baby all their lives.

How about abortion? Numerous females who terminate offspring mourn the loss of the child. For many women, halting the baby’s progress doesn’t eliminate the connection.

How about the mother who loses a child in death? Or miscarriage?

Mothers who’ve lost children to wars, disease or accidents suffer grief until eternity. Most of us expect our children to outlive us, but that isn’t always the case.

What about the women who long for babies but can’t have any? The hole in their heart grows bigger each time they see a sweet, little cherub.

I once saw a pregnant woman sitting in a choir loft on Mother’s Day. The pastor asked the mothers to stand, and this lady’s face grew bright red. She was expecting her first child and didn’t consider herself to be a mother just yet. I disagree. Moms take care of the unborn before they leave the womb and it becomes a lifelong process.

When a child is conceived, a mother is born.

A bonding process begins.

Most of us think of our mothers with love and appreciation. Many children love their mom in spite of maltreatment. That bond thing again—children have it for mothers too.

One of our daughters once worked in a children’s home. Abused kids were brought to her for shelter—one had cigarette burns covering her body. All the kids under our daughter's care had memories of a mom who’d abandoned them. The physical and emotional pain those children endured go beyond comprehension.

Stepmoms and adopted moms hold special places in the lives of children. Their kids were born before they met them. Applaud them for loving the child from another woman’s body.

Let’s not forget the unsung heroes. Teachers who work with kids each day, and others like our daughter who care for the hurting, abandoned little guys. Aunts. Grandmothers.