The True Meaning of Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is not what it used to be. The family of the founder of the holiday, Anna Jarvis, is following in her footsteps by refusing to recognize the controversial date. Anna Jarvis, born in 1864, wanted mothers to have a deeply personal day to celebrate them. Her vision for the holiday was to be a homage to "the best mother who has ever lived: hers."
The Commercialization of Mother’s Day
But when the day became more commercialized, Anna Jarvis spent her last years blindly and broke, fighting against the holiday to get back to what the day originally stood for. She was against the flower arrangements, greeting cards, and expensive chocolates that had become synonymous with Mother’s Day. She called those who benefited from Mother’s Day "charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers, and termites."
The Founder’s Vision
Anna Jarvis started to establish Mother’s Day after the death of her own mother, whose dream it was that such a holiday became reality. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a legislative template that made Mother’s Day a national holiday. However, as the years went by, Anna Jarvis became disenchanted with the commercialization of the holiday and fought to maintain its original intent.
The Living Relatives of Anna Jarvis
Today, Anna Jarvis’ first cousins, Richard Talbott Miller Jr. and Elizabeth Burr, are carrying on her legacy by refusing to recognize Mother’s Day. They recently discovered their link to Anna Jarvis thanks to a targeted genealogist from MyHeritage, who found out whether the holiday creator had any living kin. When Burr received a call from a researcher at MyHeritage, she thought it was a scam, but when she realized it was real, she was amazed.
A Different Approach to Mother’s Day
Burr and her aunt Jane Unkefer told the researchers that their family had never celebrated Mother’s Day as the rest of the world now does, due to the vision of their ancestor. They didn’t go for the chic dinners or bouquets, and instead, believed that "every day is Mother’s Day." This approach is a far cry from the commercialized holiday that Mother’s Day has become today.
The Legacy of Anna Jarvis
Anna Jarvis never married or had children before she died in 1948, but her only known living relatives were revealed by MyHeritage researchers. It turns out that they are not fans of Mother’s Day, and instead, prefer to honor their ancestor’s original vision for the holiday. The story of Anna Jarvis and her family serves as a reminder of the true meaning of Mother’s Day and the importance of keeping the holiday personal and meaningful.
