A Tribute - From Halle Burton

Not sure what form a tribute takes; but, I'll be honoring my Mom (passed away in '92) and my mother-in-law this Sunday. My mom was fully devoted to her family and home. She was a full-time homemaker, back in the day when the husband's job could support the family. She raised my siblings and me to honest, polite, caring, hard working individuals that not only knew the importance of right and wrong, but also about one's role in the community.

She was active in the PTA, the local Republican Women's Club, started a chapter in support of the City of Hope, actively supported the battered women's shelter, was involved in literacy training and other civic activities. She taught me by her example.

I do miss her; and, regret that she and my wife never got to meet each other.

Also, maybe you'll say something about the history of Mothers' Day. Here is something I found:

Return to the Spirit of Mother's Day
Guest article by Patti Teel

Mother's Day is a time for honoring and thanking our own mothers for giving us life, raising us and being a source of emotional support and love. It is that rare day to enjoy breakfast in bed, cards and flowers from our own children and husbands. But the original intent of Mother's day is unknown to the general population. To the women who contributed to its inception, Mother's Day was much more than a recognition of individual mothers. It was an opportunity to use mother love as a powerful force for peacemaking, reconciliation and community cohesion.

The History of Mother's Day

Anna Reeves Jarvis

In the 1850&#8217s Anna Reeves Jarvis organized Mother Work Day Clubs that focused on providing medicine for the poor and on improving sanitary conditions. Then, during the Civil War, Mother's Day Clubs cared for all soldiers&#8212irregardless of which side of the battle they had chosen. After the war ended, Anna continued her peacemaking by working to bring people together to heal the deep wounds of those who had been divided by the war.

Julia Ward Howe

In the 1870s, Julia Ward Howe began organizing &#8220Mother's Peace Day.&#8221 After the blood bath of the civil war, she focused on voting rights for women and world peace. When war broke out between France and Prussia, she wrote an impassioned plea to mothers saying, &#8220Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.&#8221

Following unsuccessful efforts to pull together an international peace conference, and while the Franco Prussian war was still in progress, she began a global appeal to women. For the next 30 years, Americans celebrated Mother's Day for Peace on June 2. During this time, mothers played a leading role in the abolitionist movement to end slavery and launched campaigns to protect children and to improve the working conditions of women.

Anna Jarvis

Anna Reeves Jarvis&#8217 daughter, Anna Jarvis is generally credited with the establishment of Mother&#8217s Day in America. She tirelessly organized a letter writing campaign so that the work that her mother waged for peacemaking would not be forgotten. In 1914, her efforts paid off when Congress passed the Mothers Day resolution, appointing it as a national holiday to be celebrated annually on the second Sunday in May. 

http://healing.about.com/od/mothersday/a/mothersday_hist.htm