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Holtz - Even Justin and Rob have mothers who have hope

Regular Gazette columnist Jim Holtz looks at Mother's Day from the May 14, 2014 Gazette.

Mothers’ Day has come and gone again. For those of us too old to still have mothers to send cards and flowers to, it has become more a day of reflection than celebration. It was originally created in 1908 by Anna Jarvis as a day of action for mothers, a day when women would band together and devote themselves to worthy, health related causes as Jarvis’s mother had done during the Civil War.  When Hallmark cards and other commercial interests began to dominate the Day in the ’20s, Jarvis became so enraged that she tried to have Mothers’ Day removed as a national holiday. It is obvious who won that battle. Jarvis was a little off the mark, however. Even though Mothers’ Day isn’t quite what the founder intended, it is not really controlled by commercial interests. They merely are convenient suppliers of tokens of appreciation. As any mother will tell you, the cards, flowers, candy, even the health spa gift certificate or, if you are the mother of a professional athlete, new house, are not the essence of Mothers’ Day. There is a sincere, if brief, outpouring of love and affection on that day that is authentic and beyond commercialization. The gifts, large or small, are merely symbolic reflections of that emotion. Not that a day at the spa wouldn’t be considered a welcome break from the onerous, daily work load.Of all the things that we appreciate mothers for, I sometimes wonder if their ability to silently bear disappointment isn’t the greatest. They all have such high hopes for their children. They see potential in them from the moment of their births and try to develop that potential in the best ways that they know how. There are so many things that can interfere with that development, and at any time along the way. Justin Bieber’s mother must have thought all her hopes were being realized at one point; Rob Ford’s mother as well. Still, our mothers love us and hope for the best. They adjust their expectations and send us out into the world, hopeful that what they taught us will be enough to allow us to cope with whatever comes our way. My mother always wanted me to go to university at Princeton. I didn’t get in. However, I still brush my teeth twice a day, look people in the eye when I talk to them, and I never put my elbows on the table.She would smile with some satisfaction at that.