From Battlefields to Breakfast in Bed: The Inspiring Story of the Women Who Created Mother’s Day

My Mother Lisa Joyce Wagstaff and I the day we met.

While the history of Mother’s Day is marked by activism and fierce debate, its survival for over a century points to a much simpler, warmer truth: the universal desire to say thank you. What began as a daughter’s private tribute has blossomed into a global moment of connection that transcends borders and languages.

The foundations of this day reach back to ancient civilizations. The Greeks held festivals for Rhea the mother of the gods. The Romans celebrated Cybele with the festival of Hilaria. Centuries later the United Kingdom developed Mothering Sunday, falling on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It was originally a religious occasion where the faithful returned to their mother church. It evolved into a rare day off for domestic servants to reunite with their families. The would often bring home a small gift or a cake to mark the celebration.

In the United States, the holiday took on a more radical tone during the 19th century. Ann Reeves Jarvis organized Mothers Day Work Clubs to address the dire public health conditions that led to high infant mortality. Following the devastation of the Civil War she sought to heal the nation by bringing together mothers from both the Union and Confederate sides for Mothers Friendship Day. Around the same time the poet and reformer Julia Ward Howe drafted the Mothers Day Proclamation of 1870. Her vision was not one of brunch and flowers but a global call for women to unite in a massive pacifist movement to end the carnage of war forever.

The official American holiday we recognize today was the work of Ann’s daughter, Anna Jarvis. Following her mother’s death in 1905 Anna campaigned tirelessly to establish a day that honored the private, domestic sacrifices mothers make. She succeeded in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation. Anna’s victory was short lived in her own eyes. She watched with growing horror as the day was quickly seized by the floral, greeting card, and candy industries. She eventually turned against her own creation. She spent her later years and her entire inheritance in a legal and public battle to abolish the holiday. She felt it had been hollowed out by profit and made soul-less by America's corporate greed.

Despite these historical conflicts the modern spirit of the day has expanded beautifully to celebrate the village including the grandmothers, aunts, mentors, and mother figures who shape our lives. It has become a celebration of nurturing in all its forms. Every bouquet and card is a small token of a much larger sentiment. The labor of love and the work of caring for one another is the most important work there is.

Anna Jarvis may have worried about the commercial side of the holiday, but she was right about one thing: the power of sincerity. Today, the holiday thrives because it gives us a reason to express what we often feel but rarely say out loud. While the brunch reservations and the flowers are lovely, the real magic of the day is found in the gratitude. It is a day that reminds us that no matter how old we get we never truly outgrow the need to feel connected to the people who helped make us who we are. It is a celebration of the heart and that is a legacy worth keeping.

Join me this mother's day in wishing every single mother, grandmother, aunt, mentor, caregiver, and mother figure across the world a happy mother's day. Think of your mother. The sacrifices she made so that you could have a better life. Think of the work she did to make your youthful days care-free. Think of the meals that would fill your plate, or the admonishing tone that awaited you after some youthful mischief. Most importantly think of the love. The love she had for you, and the love you had for her. Think of the eternal bond that you share that will remain unbroken by the march of time.

I remember my mother most for her uncompromising morality in the face of adversity. There was not one person alive that could make her back down in the face of injustice. It is from her that I learned all that is good in me. All the virtues of sacrifice, selflessness, honesty, and integrity. Every mother's day I think of the times we had and I wipe away a tear. I know that somewhere she can see me and I hope she's proud. I love you mom. Happy Mother's day.