Honor our mothers

Mother's Day comes but once a year. But, honestly, it should be celebrated every day of the year.

We all have mothers ... either by birth or in someone we look to as a mother figure. They are the women who comfort us when we need comforting, encourage us when we need encouragement, who teach us right from wrong, who love us even when we feel we have failed them.

And Sunday is their day.

Though the origins of Mother's Day dates back to the ancient Greeks, the holiday as we know it began in 1907. It was then that Philadelphia school teacher Anna M. Jarvis started to drum up interest in a national holiday to honor mothers.

Jarvis contacted legislators and prominent business leaders to rally to her cause. Finally, in 1914, her efforts prevailed when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

Today, we keep the tradition alive, although Jarvis spent the last years of her life fighting what she believed to be the commercialization of the holiday.

While a nice gesture, it's true that flowers, cards or candy don't really come from our hearts. No matter how well written, a card can never say what we really feel. So, why not just tell our mothers how we feel? It'll mean much more than just a piece of paper.

In reality, we shouldn't have to have a holiday to remind us to appreciate the people in our lives who are important to us. We should remember them every day.

But Sunday is a day to spend time with the mothers in our lives ... a day to bless them and honor them if we're lucky enough to still have them with us.

Let your mother know how much you love her and appreciate what she has done for you. Let her know what a blessing she is to your life.