Topical 5/5/22

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. Anna Reeves Jarvis is most often credited with founding Mother’s Day. After her mother Ann died on May 9, 1905, Jarvis set out to create a day that would honour her and mothers as a group. She began the movement in West Virginia, which prides itself on hosting the first official Mother’s Day celebration three years later at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, according to CNN. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognising Jarvis’ idea as a national holiday to be celebrated each second Sunday in May. In Australia, chrysanthemums are the most popular Mother’s Day flowers, not only because the flower has the word “mum” in it but also because it is abundantly available in May. Symbolically, chrysanthemums are associated with friendship and support from one’s family.