[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 68 (Friday, May 7, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3404-S3405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MOTHER'S DAY

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, this Sunday, May 9, is Mothers Day in the 
United States.
  Many European nations have long observed ``Mothering Sundays,'' which 
are also part of the liturgical calendar in several Christian 
denominations. Catholics observe Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in 
Lent, in honor of the Virgin Mary and the ``mother'' church. Some 
historians believe the tradition of sending flowers on Mothers Day grew 
out of the practice of allowing children who worked in large houses 
that day off to visit their families. The children would pick 
wildflowers to take to their mothers on their way home for the visit. 
The ancient Greeks celebrated the Vernal Equinox with a springtime 
festival devoted to Cybele,

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a mother of many Greek gods. The ancient Romans dedicated the March 
holiday Matronalia to Juno, mother of the gods, and gave gifts to 
mothers on that day.
  In the United States, the origins of Mothers Day are rooted deep in 
the West Virginia hills. Anna Jarvis, the daughter of Ann Maria Reeves 
Jarvis, was born in Webster, WV, on May 1, 1864. Her family moved to 
Grafton during her childhood. On May 12, 1907, 2 years after her 
mother's death, Anna Jarvis held a memorial service to honor her 
mother's memory. From that small event began Anna Jarvis' eventually 
successful campaign to institute ``Mothers Day'' as a recognized U.S. 
holiday.
  Today, the International Mother's Day Shrine, located in Grafton, 
continues to commemorate Anna Jarvis' accomplishment. Yet there are 
mothers who will not receive cards or flowers, or enjoy a Mothers Day 
brunch with their husbands and children. In Montcoal, WV, there are 29 
families who are grieving the loss of sons, husbands, brothers, and 
friends. The Nation grieves with them, but that is little comfort for 
those mothers who will wake on the second Sunday in May to quiet houses 
and silent phones. Mothers Day holds little comfort for the wives and 
mothers who must now get on with raising children and paying bills 
alone following this tragic event.
  Mothers Day is a lonely day as well for the ``Gold Star'' mothers, 
wives and families of soldiers lost to battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
First used in World War I, service flags--a blue star on a white 
background, surrounded by a red border--are hung to signify that the 
family has a loved one overseas in harm's way. Should the awful news 
arrive that their loved one had lost his or her life, a gold star 
replaces the blue star, signaling the supreme sacrifice that has been 
made.
  Miners' mothers and soldiers' mothers, as well as the mothers of 
anyone facing dangerous working conditions on a daily basis, know well 
the constant stress and tension of having a dearly loved child in 
harm's way. Every day is a long, silent, chanting prayer: ``Please, 
God, keep my child safe and bring him home to me.''
  Tragedy reminds us just how much mothers care, and how much their 
children mean to them. This Mothers Day, we once again have an 
opportunity to thank our mothers for that loving care, and to thank all 
mothers for the great generosity of spirit that marks a caring mother.

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