Friday, May 8, 2009


I find it interesting to know, that the Mother’s day that we now observe by honoring our mother's with flowers, candy, and dinner out was not celebrated as such when it was first conceived in this country. The following is a little information I found on the internet as I was snooping:


It was Julia Ward Howe, writer of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," who first planted the seed for a day for mothers to come together. It was about 12 years after she wrote that song that she authored the first Mother's Day ttp://www.mothersdaycelebration.com/mothers-day-proclamation.html">Peace Proclamation in 1870.



The peace proclamation was in protest to the devastation that the nation had experienced during the American Civil War. She wanted mothers everywhere to protest the killing of their sons through war and June 2 was designated as the day to celebrate peace and motherhood.



She funded much of the protest gatherings with this intent and in 1873, the day was designated as Mother's Peace Day in 18 north American states.
When Howe stopped funding the celebrated events, most of the peace and motherhood gatherings stopped except in Boston, Mass., where it was continued for some time.



It was Anna Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia who picked up the thought with Mother's Friendship Day so that families and neighbors would reunite after being divided by Union vs. Confederate sides of the war.


Then on May 10, 1908, after much lobbying to the churches, her daughter, Anna M. Jarvis, was successful in having the first Mother's Day event at St. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, W. Va., and in a church in Philadelphia, Pa. Jarvis handed out white carnations to all of the mothers in attendance.
http://www.thenews-messenger.com/article/20090508/NEWS01/905080311



History of Mother's Day: Anna Jarvis
Anna Jarvis is recognised as the Founder of Mothers Day in US. Though Anna Jarvis never married and never had kids, she is also known as the Mother of Mothers Day, an apt title for the lady who worked hard to bestow honor on all mothers.



Anna Jarvis got the inspiration of celebrating Mothers Day from her own mother Mrs Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis in her childhood. An activist and social worker, Mrs Jarvis used to express her desire that someday someone must honor all mothers, living and dead, and pay tribute to the contributions made by them.



A loving daughter, Anna never forgot her mothers word and when her mother died in 1905, she resolved to fulfill her mothers desire of having a mothers day. A Growing negligent attitude of adult Americans towards their mothers and a desire to honor her own mother fueled her ambitions.



To begin with Anna, sent Carnations in the church service in Grafton, West Virginia to honor her mother. Carnations were her mothers favorite flower and Anna felt that they symbolised a mothers pure love. Later Anna along with her supporters wrote letters to people in positions of power lobbying for the official declaration of Mothers Day holiday. The hard work paid off. By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union and on May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
http://www.mothersdaycelebration.com/mothers-day-history.html



In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and created the Mother's Day International Association.
"She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world."



This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in the law making official the holiday in the U.S., by the U.S. Congress on bills, and by other U.S. presidents on their declarations.
Common usage in English language also dictates that the singular possessive "Mother's Day" is the preferred spelling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day

Thursday, May 7, 2009

If only dinner cooked itself,

If Only ----
If only dinner cooked itself,
And groceries grew upon the shelf;
If children did as they were told,
And never had a cough or cold;
And washed their hands, and wiped their boots,
And never tore their Sunday suits,
But always tidied up the floor,
Nor once forgot to shut the door.

If John remembered not to throw
His papers on the ground. And oh!
If he would put his pipes away,
And shake the ashes on the tray
Instead of on the floor close by;
And always spread his towel to dry,
And hung his hat upon the peg,
And never had bones in his leg.


Then, there's another thing. If Jane
Would put the matches back again
Just where she found them, it would be
A save of time to her and me.
And if she never did forget
To put the dustbin out; nor yet
Contrive to gossip with the baker,
Nor need ten thunderbolts to wake her.

Ahem! If wishes all came true,
I don't know what I'd find to do,
Because if no one made a mess
There'd be no need of cleanliness.
And things might work so blissfully,
In time--who knows?--they'd not need me!

And this being so, I fancy whether
I'll go on keeping things together.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3477/3477.txt
The Verse-Book Of A Homely Woman, by Elizabeth Rebecca Ward, AKA Fay Inchfawn


Fay Inchfawn wrote gentle, spiritual verse reflecting her own deep feeling on spiritual themes. She also wrote on commonplace everyday themes and on nature but always with a gentleness and sense of fun that endeared her to many readers in a long creative lifetime. She was the authoress of 39 books published between 1920 and 1969.

A post in honor of upcoming Mother's Day.

http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Fay_Inchfawn

vintage pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10549679@N06/

Sunday, May 3, 2009

cur·sive (kûrsv)

cur·sive (kûrsv)
adj.
Having the successive letters joined together: cursive writing; a cursive style of type.
n.
1. A cursive character or letter.
2. A manuscript written in cursive characters.
3. Printing A type style that imitates handwriting.


I love the digital age, and am fully integrated with my computer. We are joined at the hip or fingertip as it may be. But I also LOVE to get snail mail, and I’m an avid online shopper my self of handcrafted items to bestow as gifts for others, or lavish upon little old me.


I especially love to get cards as the sender has taken the time to write me a good wish. When I rip open that envelope, I have that moment when the attention is on me, when somebody has expressed that they were thinking of me, that they care. I receive the person's handwriting along with the card, and it is like having a small piece of them with me. The slant of the writing, the loop of a y, the flying cross of the t, I observe it all as the ancients read the stars and I identify the handwriting to the person that sent it. It's sort of a multidimensional kind of thing for me, I'm in 2 places at once. ;0)


Especially meaningful to me are cards from my parents with their super distinctive handwriting and especially the fact that their loving wish remains with me, be it birthday or ‘love you’, as they are no longer on this earth. And, yes, of course, I bet you guessed, I save all my cards! People that I have lost touch with come alive when I take that nostalgic moment and get out the bundles (I would love to say blue ribbon bound bundles, but I use rubber bands and plastic shoe boxes) and all the love comes flooding back. It's me preserving my past.



There’s not a lot of wiggle room in my life now to reminisce about the days gone by. Life is packed with life. I treasure those times when I pull out the memories and breathe my thanks to God for the awesome friends I had that cared enough to send a card. I make cards from digital creations for those who get it, that a card sent is a gift, far beyond the price of the card is the time and love it took to send it.

Pay Pal? Amazon check out, or right from this blog page without any sign up of any kind via Rapid cart- just pick up some cards and tell somebody that you love them. You know its a gift!

http://www.1000markets.com/users/3261
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5329834&page=1&section_id=&order=
http://www.artfire.com/users/merrysmusings

Longing to get a sense of euphoria and get rejuvenated and have it be legal?
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23917340



"Strength does not come from winning
Your struggles develop your strength.
When you go through hardship
and decide not to surrender,
that is strength."

Followers

Blog Archive