TODAY is Mother’s Day, a day in honour of mothers that is celebrated in countries throughout the world. In the United States, where celebrations in its modern form originated, it is observed on the second Sunday in May. Many other countries also celebrate the holiday on this date, while some mark the observance at other times of the year.

Although a holiday honouring mothers is certainly in order, one day out of the entire year falls extremely short and can never make up for the years of affection, nurturing, support, and love that mothers give to their children on a daily basis throughout their lives. Technically speaking, we would not have had a world had it not been for dads as well, but seeing that the day does not belong to them, we have no choice but to leave them out of the equation just this once.

On this day, hundreds of millions of sons and daughters the world over will thank their moms for all the love and support they’ve provided over the years. It remains one of the most popular holidays in many countries; more telephone calls are made on the second Sunday of May than on any other day of the year, and greeting card companies, florists, and other gift-related retailers will do brisk business today.

In Guyana, the story is no different. There is a big euphoria over the day — the hustling and bustling to find that special gift is evident in the capital city of Georgetown; even the salons are filled to capacity around this time.

The story of Mothers Day is a long one. It is neither a recent phenomenon as many believe, nor it is the creation of a card and gift marketing syndicate as assumed by cynics of Mother’s Day festival.

Surprisingly, Mothers Day celebrations go way back to Ancient Greece and Rome hundreds of years ago. And Mother’s Day celebrations in the UK are much older than one might think, as the Brits have been at it long before the tradition saw the light of the day in U.S.

In the U.S., the efforts of Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis are greatly recognised for starting the tradition of Mother’s Day, but several other women too have been credited with furthering the cause of Mother’s Day.

Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated in more than 46 countries around the world, though at different times in the month of May. In some countries, however, it is celebrated at entirely different times of the year.

This notwithstanding, Mother’s Day has come to be internationally recognised as the day to honour all mothers and to thank them for the services they impart for the benefit of their individual child and consequently to the development of mankind.

Though Mother’s Day celebrations take place at different times around the world what is remarkably the same is the feelings with which people celebrate Mother’s Day. To my mind, this is so because mothers in the East are equally as caring as those in the West; there simply is no difference between mothers from one part of the world and another. And so it is, too, with the way children feel. All over the world, people love to celebrate Mother’s Day with their mothers and shower them with love.

People see the day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers, and to thank them for all their love and support. Throughout the ages, however, the holiday has seen many transformations, evolving over time to express the values of many different cultures and societies in different times and places.

The ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals every spring in homage of the great mother deities. Later, the early Christians held celebrations honouring Mary, the mother of Christ, on the fourth Sunday during Lent. However, it wasn’t until the 17th Century that the English created Mothering Sunday to venerate all mothers. Anna Jarvis, an activist who never married or had children, is considered the ‘Mother of Mother’s Day’ in America. Her efforts ultimately led President Woodrow Wilson to proclaim Mother’s Day a national holiday in 1914.

Celebrating motherhood
This is a historical tradition dating almost as far back as mothers themselves. A number of ancient cultures paid tribute to mothers as goddesses, including the Greeks, who celebrated Rhea, the mother of all gods. The Romans also honoured their mother goddess, Cybele, in a notoriously rowdy springtime celebration, while the Celtics marked the coming of spring with a fertility celebration linking their goddess Brigid with the first milk of the ewes.

During the 17th Century, those living on the British Isles initiated a religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was held on the fourth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured the reunification of mothers with those of their children from whom they were estranged when working class families had to send off their young children to be employed as house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to return home for the day to visit with their parents. The holiday’s popularity faded in the 19th Century, only to be reincarnated during World War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial) aspects of the celebration’s American counterpart.

Motherhood is the greatest blessing any woman can have. It is a symbol of love, kindness and forgiveness. A mother’s touch is the first human touch in a child’s life. A mother’s heart is filled with a never-exhausting love for her children. She lives and dies for them.

A mother is the most beautiful woman in a child’s eyes. It is a mother’s love, pure and unadulterated, which nourishes a child and helps him see and understand the cruel and harsh world where he is destined to spend the rest of his life. Only a mother knows how it feels to be a mother.

Mothers shoulder a huge responsibility of instilling good in her child’s heart. Being a mother is tough. A mother’s every action and word is under the deepest scrutiny, and therefore she is always ever cautious of her conduct.

Also, mothers have an incredible role to play in determining the future of the country. No, not in voting for education, or against gun control, though those things are important. The immense power that mothers have is in forming the lives of the future generations and we should always remember that “We only have One Mom; One Mommy; One Mother in this World; One Life. Don’t wait for the tomorrow to tell Mom you love her.”

Happy Mother’s Day!