Books
Bygone: “To Mother with Love, Mary and Bill”
Marica
Bernstein
Despite popular
belief, Mother’s Day was not cooked up by a greeting card company. On May 9,
1914 President Wilson, following the adoption of a congressional resolution,
proclaimed that the second Sunday in May be celebrated as Mother’s Day. He
called upon government officials to fly the American flag on all government
buildings, and asked that Americans display the flag at home as “a public
expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” The idea
had originated some years earlier in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). This bit of
background comes by way of an old favorite, “Anniversaries and Holidays: A
Calendar of Days and How to Observe Them” (1928). Though not the subject of
this essay, if you ever come across “Anniversaries and Holidays”-- which was
written primarily for librarians and teachers— add it to your home library.
Concluding a
list of supplemental materials on Mother’s Day, the author notes, “There have
been many poems written in praise of and in memory of ‘My mother’.” Wouldn’t
you know, I just happen to have a collection of poems and prose about Mother:
“Far Above Rubies: My Mother” compiled by Mary W. Lightfoot (1970). Lightfoot
begins the collection with lines from Proverbs “Who can find a virtuous woman?
for her price is far above rubies” (31:10-12). “Her children rise up and call
her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her” (31:28).
This short
book is divided into three sections, Abiding Love, Lasting Influence, and
Gratitude, and each has selections that will pull at your heartstrings, and
make you laugh. For example, a story titled “The Door to the Heart” tells of a
young woman who left her widowed mother for a “gay and dissolute life in a big
city.” The mother prays she will return home someday and after many months she
does! She returns in the middle of the night to find the door to her mother’s
home unlocked. She asks why it had been left open “this late at night.” To
which the mother replied that she’d not locked it since the daughter went away
“so that no matter the day or the hour you might know you were welcome to enter
at once.”
Here’s a funny
story. Two women are sitting on a bench. The one’s three children “gleefully
tumbled and cavorted while the other woman, who was childless, looked on and
said: ‘I would give ten years of my life to have such wonderful children.’
After a moment’s reflection, the mother said, ‘Yes, three children cost just
about that’.”
The poetry
selections are likewise sentimental and lovely. Edgar Allen Poe’s “To My
Mother” was written for his mother-in-law! “But you,” he says, “are mother to
the one I love so dearly… .” There’s another by Alice Allen comparing … well,
Alice says it better that I: “Her heart is like her garden, Old-fashioned,
quaint and sweet, With here a wealth of blossom, And there a still retreat.”
There is
something about this book—this particular book on my desk right now—that I find
sad. Clearly it was marketed—no doubt in a greeting card store—especially for
Mother’s Day. A corner of the title page has lines for “To,” “From,” and
“Date.” This particular book is “To Mother with Love, Mary and Bill, May 14,
1972.” It’s in beautiful cursive handwriting with flourishes on the “Ms” in
Mother, Mary, and May. Tucked away inside the pages is a little piece of light
blue paper with pasted-on cut-out yellow flowers and another pasted-on smaller
piece of paper on which is again written “To: Mother. From Mary & Bill.” Between
the beautiful handwriting and the childlike decoration, I can’t figure out how
old Mary and Bill might have been when they gave this book to their mother. Nor
do I know how this book (and the corresponding one from Mary & Bill to “Our
Daddy”) found its way to a junk store. I just can’t imagine Mary & Bill not
wanting to pass this book bygone on to their children. Can you?
“Anniversaries
and Holidays: A Calendar of Days and How to Observe Them.” Mary Emogene Hazeltine. American Library
Association, Chicago. 1928. Available
at MSU Mitchell Memorial, West Point, and Aberdeen libraries and at online
booksellers.
“Far Above
Rubies: My Mother.” Mary W. Lightfoot,
ed. The World Publishing Company, New York. 1970. Available at online
booksellers.
This was sweet. Even though I can't express it very poetically, I love you Mom. Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Love you, too!
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