There’s a song, “April Showers,” sung by Judy Garland, that came out in 1956 that makes me think about the duality of life and even Mother Earth. The lyrics go, “When April showers may come your way, they bring the flowers that bloom in May.” Even Mother Nature celebrates Mother’s Day by bringing flowers to all the mothers of the world because without our mothers there would be no life. I know the fathers have a little bit to do with it, but the mother actually goes through the process of giving birth! We live and develop in the womb.
We’re dependent on our mother’s health and DNA to carry us through this process for nine months. It’s no wonder that every child since the time they’re born to about 5 years of age hangs on to their mother’s skirts. We are our mother‘s child.
For those of us of Mexican descent in the U.S., it’s not just the second Sunday in May we dedicate to mom. By most s, the Mexican tradition of Mother’s Day that was Día de Las Madres was given its beginning when a journalist in 1922 decided to celebrate the incredible gift and contribution that mothers have given to all their children.
Mexicans celebrate Mother’s Day like a national holiday with incredible family gatherings, lots of flowers that bloom in May and reverence for the lady who made it possible to keep the family together.
There are several stories about how this tradition started. But the most common version says that on May 19, 1922, Rafael Alducin, editor of the Mexico City newspaper El Excelsior, used his column to write an article pushing for the celebration of Mother’s Day across Mexico. He chose May 10, no matter which day of the week the holiday falls on. And the tradition stuck.
Mexican Mother‘s Day celebrations bring our cultural heritage together, weaving the traditions and memories like food and song. I my father bringing mariachis to our home on Mother’s Day to serenade my mom.
I was born on Mother’s Day, another duality in my life. It’s special to me and I’m very lucky that I have two days to honor my mother, one day in the United States and May 10 as they do in Mexico, and it never changes. It’s always May 10. Mexican Catholics believe in the Virgin de Guadalupe, who is the patron saint of Mexico and celebrated as our Mother. She is the second mother who protects us.
Every day should be Mother’s Day, and by the way, there are more fathers that are mothers now, so we should celebrate them also the same day.
M is for memories that she still in us until we die.
A is for amor, the gift of life that is in our blood because of her is the corazón, heart of it all.
D is for the desire to reach the unreachable star and beat the unbeatable foe that she instilled in us to fulfill our potential, no matter who we are, without judgment, the freedom to risk.
R is for respeto (respect). Mothers instill respect for everything, including Mother Nature, all the creatures in the world, all the children of the world, and all the people of the world to take care of others and respect them and respect your elders, even those who are just one hour older than you, and respect your culture and heritage and respect women and every human being for their choices.
E is for ejemplo (example), like getting a good education. Education is not only in books and reaching for the highest intellectual level that you can and succeeding in formal education. I’m talking the education we got from our mothers — having manners, doing the right thing and saying those magic works like thank you, please, you’re welcome, being a gentleman, being a lady, and, most of all, standing for great morals and ethics, no matter what. That’s the tradition of the duality of Mother’s Day for me.
¡Vivan todas las madres!
Virchis is a professor emeritus at Southwestern College Department of Theater Arts and producing artistic director of Teatro Máscara Mágica. He lives in Chula Vista.
