I’ve always found Mother’s Day to be a wonderful tradition. It doesn’t have to be about celebrating a woman. We can celebrate Mother Nature or admire a person who has provided support. We can take a moment of silence and honor those no longer here. It is a momentary break from our busy schedules to remember a mother figure, whether by birth or by choice.

Days dedicated to mothers have been traced back to a variety of sources. The ancient Greeks honored Rhea, the mother of the gods. Christians honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, apparently evolved to be a time when people working away from their homes were expected to return to their “mother” church. The holiday became a day reuniting mothers with their children.

Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis is the inspiration behind the modern Mother’s Day celebration. In 1858, she organized Mother’s Day Work Clubs to help improve sanitation and worker safety in Appalachian West Virginia. During the Civil War the clubs remained neutral to provide medical care for both Union and Confederate soldiers. After the war Jarvis created a Mothers’ Friendship Day to bring together soldiers and neighbors of different political beliefs to help ease any tension.

In 1872, Julia Ward Howe (author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) organized a Mother’s Day of Peace. It is suggested that she encouraged an day where mothers could rally for peace. Originally held on June 2, Howe envisioned a day of activism.

The current holiday was conceived in 1907 when Philadelphia schoolteacher Anna Jarvis, Ann’s daughter, honored her mother’s good works during a memorial service. She continued the yearly tradition by passing out red and pink carnations to signify those people with living mothers and white carnations to honor those mothers who had passed away. Jarvis petitioned influential businessmen and legislators to form a national Mother’s Day. Finally in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May, the anniversary of her mother’s death, as a national holiday to celebrate all mothers.

To Jarvis’s dismay, the holiday quickly became a vehicle for commercialization. In an attempt to maintain her mother’s good works, Jarvis attempted to lobby businesses to donate a percentage of the Mother’s Day profits back to women and children in need. She was unsuccessful. It is said that she regretted forming the holiday and even petitioned the courts to have it disbanded.

I am not suggesting that current Mother’s Day traditions be dissolved. I rather like the idea of breakfast in bed and all the niceties. I look forward to it. I also embrace the original Mother’s Day concept of a day of peace, of friendship, and good deeds. Happy Mother’s Day.

Diane Chase is the author of the Adirondack Family Time guidebook series. For family-friendly activities, go to AdirondackFamilyTime.com.