Mother's Day

 

Mother's Day originally had no connection with Mothering Sunday. It was started in the United States of America by a young lady called Anna Jarvis whose mother died in May, 1906. A year later, Anna confided in a friend that she wished the day could be set aside especially to honour and remember Mother's. The idea began to spread and was widely supported, and the governor of Anna's state, Philadelphia, proclaimed the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day.

 

The idea continued to spread and until, in 1913, the US Senate and House of Representatives officially dedicated the day to the memory of the best mother in the world your mother.

 

During the second world war, American servicemen stationed in Britain were surprised that the British did not have a Mother's Day. These young men often regarded their British hostess as a kind of foster-mother and on Mother's Day in May they did what they would have done for their own mother gave her presents and flowers to thank her for her kindness and care of them.

 

British sons and daughters caught on to the idea and, after the Americans had returned home after the war, they continued the pleasant practice, merging it with Mothering Sunday in mid-lent