WQ #19: May 10: MOTHER’S DAY/ROYAL PURPLE
“The origins of Mother’s Day as celebrated in the United States date back to the 19th century. In the years before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children.
…The official Mother’s Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children. …In 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.”
(Anna Jarvis) soon grew disillusioned, as Mother’s Day almost immediately became centered on the buying and giving of printed cards, flowers, candies and other gifts. …By the time of her death in 1948 Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar.” History Channel
“The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.”
—James E. Faust
Happy Wednesday, and welcome to #WQ. Here’s your chance to showcase your photos, poems, thoughts, and stories about growing. All you need is one awesome quote. Feel free to skim, but don’t skip the very end where your posts are highlighted! Please take time to read at least a few of the other links in this party.
Mom’s church. She directed the children’s choir, played the organ, taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, and served as a deacon. We played tic-tac-toe in the choir loft when we weren’t singing, went to Sunday School, and helped with VBS.
Some Mothers Correct Your Grammar
Does this sound bad to you? Vince didn’t mind it at all. It made my teeth ache.
“Mage won the 149th Kentucky Derby after a week in which seven horses died at Churchill Downs, two of them in races yesterday.”
NY Times
How exactly does one race dead horses?
Inconvenient Motherhood
“Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything.”
—Unknown
This is not a new photo, but she stuck in my mind as one who had been inconvenienced a time or two.
A Mother’s Hopes and Dreams
“Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary – it’s an act of infinite optimism.”
—Gilda Radner
Most mothers want the best for their children. It breaks my heart when they don’t. It is also heartbreaking when the children don’t want it for themselves and lose hope.
Walking in the midst of one of the most opulent areas of the country, I met Dan. He sat on a bench along the side of the bikepath outside our little condo in Scottsdale.
As a mother, her dreams must have been dashed at some point. Dan was very polite and well spoken. After confirming that he is homeless, I asked him how he chose the items he took with every day in a grocery cart with a heavy chain attached to the bottom.
“It’s hard,” he answered.
Choosing what to throw and what to keep is one of the hardest decisions people have to make every day. My grandmother kept everything. She said she might need it someday. Her basement attested to that belief and the stuff was climbing up the stairs before she left her home. Dan didn’t have that option.
“The broom is a big item. Why do you have that?”
“Some of the places I find to sleep are pretty dirty. I have to sweep them off first.
“What about the tarp?”
“I use it for cover if it’s raining, or sometimes under me.
He started to get animated as he talked about his stuff.
“I have some food in there. I have two chairs. The blue one cost $89 and it rocks. The other one cost $10 and I put my feet in it when I sleep. It’s very comfortable.”
“Why don’t you fold your tarp? You’d have more room in your cart,” I asked sensibly.
“People take my stuff. I don’t want them (other homeless people) to see what’s in my cart. I’ve been robbed 20 times in the last ten years.”
Ten years! You’ve been homeless for ten years! Why are you homeless?”
He seemed intelligent and had been writing in what looked like a journal to me when I reached him and we said good morning.
“I broke up with my fiancé ten years ago (age 46). It was partly my fault. Now I don’t have a job. I can’t stand the bosses telling me things. I can’t stand holding a sign in 114-degree heat. Now I can’t afford to live in a home.”
“It’s hard when you don’t have shelter.”
“I would never live in a shelter!”
“I just meant a place inside to live.”
“Oh yeah, it’s hard. It’s hard to keep clean. That’s why my skin is so dry and…”
His voice faded away as he swiped at his arm.
“You have nice hair.”
He rubbed his head like you rub any kid who has his hair cut in a butch cut. It bounced back into place instantly.
“My father’s hair was cut in a butch. I try to keep mine cut in a butch. He had his in a butch his whole life. I’m just like him. He left when I was three. I just imagine that he kept his hair in a butch all his life.”
My heart went out to Dan. He asked for nothing. I had nothing in my pocket to give him but my phone, car key and the key to our condo pool gate.
He was leaving when I walked back by. I don’t think he saw me as he pushed his cart up a hill. If he saw me, he didn’t look at me or call out to acknowledge me. I heard him say good morning to another passerby as he trudged on.
As I continued on my path, the mother in my heart trudged after him dreaming a better life for him.
Blankets of Memories
“A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.”
—Princess Diana
I had all the childhood diseases that have vaccines to prevent them now. Each time I got sick, Mom had a special comforter she let me use, velvet on one side and silk on the other, with fringe all the way around it. She bought it when she was a young woman working in a department store. It was her treasure.
I cried when I threw up on it. Mom never got mad, just cleaned it up. I eventually loved it to death like the Velveteen Rabbit.
Grandma had a quilt that she loved until Great-grandma made Mom a blue one. Then she complained that she didn’t love the colors in hers.
Mom laughed, “Those were your colors in the thirties. My quilt is my colors.”
“A mother’s love is more beautiful than any fresh flower.”
—Debasish Mridha
More Motherly Purple Pictures
Pink is the New Purple
Our bloggers’ meetup this month was at Schmooze, not Snooze. Nancy made sure I got it right this time by including a map in our texts. Yay! If we combine Janet’s blue (she didn’t get the memo) and the rest of our pinks, voilà PURPLE! We all loved Jodie’s hat and hair.
I loved the mood and excitement created by being outside on the patio as opposed to the dark colors inside. We had a round table instead of a rectangular one, which allowed us to all look at each other. That created a mood of togetherness that translated to the fun of taking pictures after the meal!
So how appropriate is royal purple for mothers?
My grandmother loved Queen Elizabeth because she was born at nearly the same time as my mother. My mother was my queen, so I think purple is a great color for Mother’s Day, though I prefer pink. Mom preferred blue. So, together, we make the perfect Mother’s Day color – purple. 🙂
Last Week’s Featured Bloggers on Gardens
- Fresh Cup of Coffee – great parenting post
- Keep It Alive – the cost of growing wise
- Lady Lee – Bits and pieces of her wonderful adventures in life
- Second Wind Leisure – unforgettable wedding photos of her daughter’s wedding.
- This Is Another Story – How does your garden grow?
Your Post Goes Here
- A FRESH CUP OF COFFEE – MOTHER’S DAY CONVERSATION
- LADY LEE – TRIBUTE TO MOM
- LOVING LIFE – READ THIS AND GET A MOM CRUSH
- SECOND WIND LEISURE – SACRED SPACES
- SECOND WIND LEISURE – PURPLE PREVIEW
- THIS IS ANOTHER STORY – CRANKY MOM GETS A GREAT POEM
Try Mr. Linky to link your post, or to read other posts. It’s easier than waiting for me! 🙂 Try it, you’ll like it.
WQ #19 Inspired by
- Lens Artist Photo Challenge #248 – Mood
- FOTD – dahlias – Cee’s favorite!
- Cell Pic Sunday – The Tower of London
- Sunday Stills – Sacred Places
- Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share & PPAC – coming Friday
- Thursday Doors – historic doors in Simsbury, CT
Upcoming and Ongoing on Always Write
Lots of love to all of you and best wishes for a wonderful week.
- WQ Page
- WQ #20: May 17: HERITAGE/INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY
- WQ #21: May 24: HONORABLE
- WQ #22: May 31: MIDPOINT/WRITER’S CHOICE/DOUBLE DIP CHALLENGES
- #DICKENSCHALLENGE started February 7th. Join Yvette Prior, Trent McDonald, and me in reading ONE – not THREE Dickens’ novellas by June 9th. Donna from Retirement Reflections posted an excellent review on her challenge, What’s On Your Bookshelf this month.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 