Anna Marie Jarvis....photographer unknown

How will you honor your mother on Mother's Day ....
​
Anna Marie Jarvis honored her mom by being the founder of Mother's Day.......

Anna Marie Jarvis was born to Granville E. and Ann Marie (née Reeves) Jarvis on May 1, 1864 in Webster, West Virginia. Anna was the ninth of eleven children.

Anna's mother Ann Reeves Jarvis was a social activist, the founder of Mothers Work Club, and a force within her community during the American Civil War. Ann was friends with Julia Ward Howe, who had first advocated in 1870 for the idea of mothers throughout the world to work together for peace. Ann was also a woman of faith, she was a member of the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church . It was during one of her Sunday school lessons in 1876 that her daughter, Anna Jarvis, allegedly found her inspiration for Mother’s Day, it was a prayer stating......

I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.

Ann Reeves Jarvis......
​
At the encouragement of her mother, Anna Jarvis attended college and was awarded a diploma for the completion of two years of course work at the Augusta Female Seminary in Staunton, Virginia, today known as Mary Baldwin University. Jarvis returned to Grafton to work in the public school system, additionally joining her mother as an active church member, remaning close to her mother.

After her uncle, Dr. James Edmund Reeves, persuaded her to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jarvis worked there as a bank teller for a year. The following year, Jarvis again moved, this time to live with her brother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in spite of her mother’s urging to return to Grafton. Jarvis was successful in Philadelphia, taking a position at Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company, where she became the agency's first female literary and advertising editor. Another accomplishment was becoming a shareholder in the Quaker City Cab Company, her brother’s business.

Ann Reeves Jarvis was proud of her daughter’s achievements and letters served to keep mother and daughter close. After the death of Jarvis’ father, she urged her mother to move to Philadelphia to stay with her and her brother. Ann Reeves Jarvis agreed to move to Philadelphia in 1904 when her heart problems made it needed. Jarvis dedicated the majority of the next year taking care of her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis' health declined and died on May 9, 1905, she was survived by four children.


On May 10, 1908, three years after her mother's death, Jarvis held a memorial ceremony to honor her mother and all mothers at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, today the International Mother's Day Shrine, in Grafton, West Virginia, marking the first official observance of Mother's Day.

Although Jarvis did not attend this service, she sent a telegram that described the significance of the day as well as five hundred white carnations for all who attended the service. As she spoke in Philadelphia at the Wanamaker's Store Auditorium, she moved her audience with the power of her speech.


Although the national proclamation represented a public validation of her efforts, Jarvis always believed herself to be the leader of the commemorative day and therefore maintained her established belief in the sentimental significance of the day to honor all mothers and motherhood. Jarvis valued the symbolism of such tangible items as the white carnation emblem, which she described as:

Its whiteness is to symbolize the truth, purity and charity of mother love; its fragrance, her memory, and her prayers. The carnation does not drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies, and so, too, mothers hug their children to their hearts, their mother love never dying. When I selected this flower, I was remembering my mother’s bed of white pinks.

Jarvis frequently referred to her mother’s memory during her efforts to maintain the heart of the day while also maintaining her own role as the founder of the holiday. In addition to her efforts to maintain her position and recognition as the holiday’s founder, Jarvis struggled against forces of commercialization that overwhelmed her original message. Among some of these forces were the confection, floral and greeting card industry. Ironically, symbols that she had valued for their sentimentality, such as the white carnation, easily became commercialized.

By the 1920s, as the floral industry continued increasing prices of white carnations and then introduced red carnations to meet the demand for the flower, Anna Jarvis' original symbols began to become re-appropriated, such as the red carnation representing living mothers and the white carnation honoring deceased mothers. She attempted to counter these commercial forces, creating a badge with a Mother’s Day emblem as an alternative to the white carnation. Her negative opinion of these commercial forces was evident in her commentary, saying:

A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy!!!! You take a box to Mother.....and then eat most of it yourself.......A pretty sentiment.


However, her efforts to hold on to the original meaning of the day led to her own economic hardship. While others profited from the day, Jarvis did not, and she spent the later years of her life with her sister Lillie. In 1943, she began organizing a petition to rescind Mother's Day. However, these efforts were halted when she was placed in the Marshall Square Sanitarium in West Chester, Pennsylvania. People of the time felt the floral and greeting card industries paid the bills to keep her in the sanitarium.

Anna Jarvis died on November 24, 1948 and was buried next to her mother, sister, and brother at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, near Philadelphia, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Although the Anna M. Jarvis Committee supported her and helped to continue her movement during her declining health, it ultimately disbanded with the assurance that the Jarvis family gravesite remained under the care of the only heir to the estate, her oldest brother's granddaughter. Anna Jarvis never married nor did she have any children.
*All information was found on wicapedia.com.

I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful event this past weekend . Meals On Wheels Delaware hosted the 20th Annual Celebrity Chefs’ Brunch on Sunday, April 30th, at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington De.
I believe they said over 1000 attended , but as you all know I'm a little person and the event was so well attended that I .....YES I ......maneuvered like a pro, in and out of the crowd.....seizing every opportunity to indulge in all the wonder offerings! Wine included....

There was a array of culinary delicacies from acclaimed chefs, brunch cocktails, live entertainment and silent auctions. Chefs came together to indulge guests, in a walk around brunch , sharing culinary tastings to support Meals on Wheels Delaware and its mission to end senior hunger. This year the chef lineup featured more than 25 award-winning and acclaimed chefs , ready to present their culinary masterpieces and help raise funds to support homebound seniors.

As we walked around I found several local Delaware celebrity chefs like Tom Hannum of Buckleys Tavern, Dave Banks of Harry's Hospitality group . And even bumped into pastry Chef Michele Mitchell of the Hotel DuPont (I think they reserved Michele tasty treats for the VIP's ) and many many more.....they all had wonderful food to sample.

My favorite was Buckleys Taverns Kimchi with braised beef! Ow my that was the bomb....spicy goodness ❤️ I LOVE KIMCHI.....

My next favorite was the Crispy Kale salad with pickled okra , smoked hickory feta , dirty remi and dehydrated kalmata olives....not sure what dirty remi is , but I hope that I can find it at my local grocery store or I need to move to Ottawa, were neXt the restaurant that offers this dish is located . It was off the hook!

There were so many silent auction items to choose from it was hard to chose what to bid on.. everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. I hope to meet the lucky winner of the Sidney Thomas Gift Letter soon, I get to help them pick something special for them selves !

The venue allowed guests the ability to enjoy unique tastings, while raising funds in support of home bound seniors who are reliant on Meals On Wheels Delaware programs to maintain an independent lifestyle. Meals On Wheels Delaware is a non profit that raises funds and awareness statewide, recipients of this program are struggling to balance needs on a fixed income , and are unable to shop or prepare hot meals for themselves . Our seniors struggle with threats of aging, hunger, isolation, and loss of independence. For additional information or to donate to this wonderful cause ,visit the Meals on Wheel Delaware website. Thank you Michael clement for inviting me and Sidney Thomas Jewelers to this wonderful event.