"The Rest Of The Story"

   
  I hope those of you lucky enough to have
'Mom' still around will make sure you honor
her and show your love with the 'present'
she wants most. That, of course, is your
time.
  Visit and talk. If you can't visit call.
And if you're calling don't count the
minutes!
  This kind of individual attention is, I
believe, what Anna Reeves had in mind when
she came up with 'Mother's Day" in 1858.
  What followed was a drama which would
seemed to have been designed for the late
Paul Harvey's 'Rest Of The Story.'
  I researched it for a speech two years
ago and though I'd share it with you in
today's Blog. 
  Anna Reeves passed away in 1905. Her
daughter, Anna Jarvis, swore on her
mother's grave that she would carry on
Anna's quest to have a National Holiday
dedicated to 'Mother.'
  She worked hard to promote the idea and,
in 1912 her home state of West Virginia
officially adopted 'Mother's Day' as a
holiday.
  The whole country followed in 1914.
  But, as Mr. Harvey would have said,
here is the rest of the story.
 Nine years after 'Mother's Day' was
officially recognized Anna Jarvis
became a major opponent of what the
day had become! She resented the
commercialization that developed across
the country and fought as hard against
that as she had originally fought for
the holiday! In 1948 she was arrested
for disturbing the peace during one of
her demonstrations! Speaking about
'Mother's Day' Anna told a reporter
"I wanted it to be a day of sentiment,
not profit."
   The cards,and flowers, and candy are
nice. But give yourself...while you still
can.
   Hope all you NEWS is good!