An eighth-grade dropout, his mom encouraged her kids to become major successes

May 10 of this year marks the 113rd annual Mother’s Day observance in the United States. The first American celebration in honor of motherhood was in May 1907.

The custom of holding a festival in honor of motherhood, however, dates back to the ancient Greeks, who worshipped Cybele, mother of the gods.

Our modern observance of Mother’s Day began under the inspiration of educator Anna M. Jarvis of Philadelphia, who taught that at least once a year sons and daughters should pay tribute to their mothers.

Jarvis arranged for special services in one of the local churches and asked that white carnations be worn by those attending.

Other churches joined the observance the following year and the second Sunday in May was agreed upon as the suitable date.

Mother’s Day quickly spread beyond American borders and was soon observed in Canada, Mexico, South America, Africa, China, Japan and some of the Pacific Islands.

In December, 1912, a Mother’s Day International Association was established to encourage a greater observance of the special day. In May of the following year, the U.S. House of Representatives, by unanimous vote, adopted a resolution calling upon the president of the United States and other officials to wear a white carnation on the second Sunday of May in observance of the special day.

In 1914 Congress designated that day as Mother’s Day, and on May 9, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation asking the people to display the American flag on their homes as “a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of the country.”

The practice of issuing a Mother’s Day proclamation has been followed to the present, except in the city of Fresno.

It was my pleasure as mayor pro tem in 1977 to re-new the proclamation tradition in City Hall, as my mother, Lucille, then 67, stood at my side.

While on the subject of mothers, don’t forget the mothers-in-laws, who have been subject to all sorts of vilification through the centuries.

Traditionally, “mother” has evoked the image of Whistler’s Mother, a gentle woman in a rocking chair, while the mother-in-law has been represented by a sharp-tongued shrew armed with a rolling pin.

Mothers, by nature or by law, undoubtedly deserve the recognition awarded them on their special day. Remember yours on Sunday, May 10.

On that day I will be visiting my mother at the Belmont Memorial Cemetery in Fresno.

Mom led a full and active life since her birth on May 27, 1910, in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Mom was a few months older than her childhood playmate, Gladys Love Smith.

The two girls were inseparable until their 14th birthdays when they had to quit school and go to work; Gladys at a fabric shop sewing cloth into garments, and mom on the family truck farm.

In their later years, Gladys married and had twin boys. Jesse died following birth, and the other became a household name worldwide. He was Elvis.

Mon had 10 children, including twins, but lost her first three babies to childhood disease. She loss another child in a bike-car accident.

I was in the eighth grade at Cantua Creek Elementary School on Fresno Country’s west side when Mom became a single parent with six kids to support.

Within a few days after we moved to Fresno in 1952, mom was employed as a housekeeper at Fresno Community Hospital. Her work never lessened her encouragement to her kids to stay in school and make something of themselves.

She was the first to encourage me to run for the Fresno City Council, and was my campaign manager in that successful effort, as she was in four additional winning campaigns.

Three of her children became technical specialists with families of their own.

Three others obtained university degrees, served with honor in our nation’s military for a combined total of 62 years, and wore battle scars from three different wars.

Yes, Mother’s Day has always been a special observance, even in these latter years at Belmont Memorial Cemetery where we gather with white carnations and folding chairs and recall our favorite stories about mom.

To this day, none of us can explain how she did it. How could an eighth-grade, drop-out single parent rear a family that included those who served in the White House, helped negotiate the first nuclear arms limitation treaty, reorganized a battalion’s personnel files during war time that saved countless lives, be the chief master sergeant in the Air Force and serve a major city as mayor?