We asked our residents and staff a simple question to celebrate this year’s Mother’s Day—What would be your best wish for your mother or any mother this year? We found fun, endearing, and beautiful wishes from all. We were also wondering when and how Mother’s Day was started. We found a beautiful story to share along with our Best Wishes.
How did Mother’s Day become a national observance in the USA?
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed May 9, 1914 as the first official Mother’s Day in the United States. He asked that all Americans use the occasion to publicly thank all mothers for their contributions to families and the country. The idea spread to other countries and is also celebrated in the United Kingdom and many others. The 2nd Sunday in May is now designated as our official observance.
The idea started when Anna Jarvis held a memorial service on May 12, 1907, honoring her mother, Anna Jarvis, where she had once preached, at the Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1858 Anna Jarvis was a young mother in Appalachia who began to organize “Mother’s Work Days” for the purpose of creating friendship among women and improving health in the area. The project and goal was to improve sanitation, clean out the seepage of polluted water that was host to insects carrying deadly disease. During the Civil War she helped to organize women’s brigades and continued her passion for bringing mothers together even after the war ended. In 1878, at the Methodist church in Grafton, she preached a sermon hoping that mothers would be honored and commemorated.
Anna passed away in 1905. After that first memorial service honoring her, daughter Anna began her campaign to make her mother’s wish come true. The idea spread from church to church and from state to state. She made the case known to Presidents Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. A merchant in Philadelphia, John Wannamaker supported the concept and 15,000 people came to celebrate mothers at the hall named for him. The hall could not contain the crowd, but the enthusiasm continued every year until Mother’s Day was established in 1914.
Is there an official Mother’s Day flower?
The carnation symbolizes motherhood and the white carnation honors mothers who are with us as well as those who have passed away.
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Residences at Coffee Creek is always filled with flowers from families honoring mothers on their special day. And there are best wishes circulating as well.
These are some of the wishes from our residents when asked what one wish would they like to see come true for Mother’s Day this year:
Cherie Lee wishes that all her kids could be together.
Margie wishes she could see her granddaughter who lives in Massachusetts.
Betty would love a trip to Hawaii for herself and all her children, too. She added “a functional shoulder”, too!
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We also asked staff to make a wish for their mothers or if a mom, a wish for yourself:
Ella’s wish is that her mom could spend an hour by herself, where no one talks to her or asks for anything because she deserves it—there are nine in this family and three still at home, she laughs!
Abagail is a mom; she would love a walk on the beach with her family.
Terry has a wish for his wife, and mother to their six sons and two daughters—that she receives the Menard’s gift cards she wanted. “She put in her order already,” he laughs!
Loving sons always have the best wishes for their moms:
Jevon said he wants to get his mom a big house.
Pharrell would like to take his mom on an everlasting trip around the world!
Best Wishes for Mother’s Day from Residences at Deer Creek Senior Living!
We asked residents if they could have one wish for Mother’s Day, what would it be? This is what they told us:
Julia H. wants to see all of her kids!
Rosemary wishes for good health!
Marilane says her wish would be to spend Mother’s Day with both of her daughters who live out of town. She also says that wish will hopefully come true as they are supposed to be traveling to see her this weekend!
Our staff also has wishes:
Nurse Pam has an especially poignant wish– “My wish would be for my parents to come back and celebrate the day with me. I would love to be able for them to see that I raised my own children the same way they raised me and that their great grandchildren are now being raised that way. I would love for them to see that we are all who we are, because of them!”
Jackie, from Life Enrichment is a mom wishing for a beach house with a corvette in the driveway!
Lindsey, Director of Social Services, has a wish to be with her mom on Mother’s Day, but will have to make up for that not happening this Sunday by celebrating on a beach with her in a couple of weeks!
There will be plenty of great Mother’s Day fare prepared by our chefs at both Deer and Coffee Creeks this weekend and plenty of visiting, too. All of our residents who are mothers know that they have adopted many sons and daughters who are staff—everyone here is family at Residences Senior Living, not just on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, but every day! Congratulations, you deserve it!