Moments with Mom

By JIM LAWRENCE
For the Stafford County Sun
Published: May 14, 2008

STAFFORD — According to the business research publication IBISWorld, Americans spend approximately $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts — like spa treatments — and another $68 million on greeting cards on Mother’s Day.

On Sunday, many area residents celebrated Mother’s Day either with their mothers, or remembered those they could not be with.
Plow Hearth, owned by 1800flowers.com, specializes in flowers, candy and gift baskets, notes that its biggest business times of the year are Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter.

“In that order,” said Paul Sturm, an employee of the company.

“The call center hires additional temps to do the phones and take orders and we have to provide 12-hour onsite coverage in the IT department,” he said. 
That means longer hours for him.

So, how does he celebrate the holiday?

“By spending time with Mom. We usually go out to lunch and we give her a gift of flowers, music, candy or garden plants. My two brothers try to visit her as well. She loves the attention and would really be disappointed if we forgot the holiday,” he said.

Local Jim Cutright’s mother passed away many years ago, but he said that he and his family still celebrate the holiday, as his wife and two daughters are mothers, also.

Excitations, a Washington, D.C. online gift provider, offered such unique gifts such as a practice with a D.C. women’s football team, a hot stone massage, wine barrel tasting, a ghost tour of Annapolis and an introduction to caving.

A Spring Garden Party was held at Mount Vernon on Sunday, which included 18th century style musical groups, colonial games and dancing and early American gardening demonstrations.

Barbara Nash, owner of Plants and Things in Falmouth reported a good week for Mother’s Day.
“We opened a few hours on Sunday. People kept coming in on Saturday, asking ‘You going to open Sunday?’ So we did a few hours,” she said.
Her worries of a sagging economy hurting the business were abated as sales were very good, though perhaps as not as good as years past, she noted.
Ronnie Brooks, manager of Shoney’s Restaurant on Plank Road, reported the same fears over the economy and sales. However, he reported a “nice day and in increase in sales.”

Becky Hamby, an employee of Vinny’s Italian Grill on Plantation Drive saw no such increase in business.
Churches usually have special services to commemorate the holiday, and many go beyond that.

According to a press release from the Anglican District of Virginia, there are “numerous programs for church moms that run alongside outreach to mothers in the community. One example of outreach is the Birthmothers Ministry that was founded by members of the Falls Church [parish] and created to help area mothers dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. The Mothers’ Union, a worldwide network of volunteers dedicated to fostering healthy marriage and family life, is also taking root in Northern Virginia throughout the Anglican ADC churches.”

Jerri Herfurtner, manager of Sunset Memorial Gardens, Laurel Hill, and Oak Hill cemeteries, reports that there are more visitors to their facilities than any other time of the years on Mother’s Day.

“Everybody has a mom and everybody wants to remember her,” she said. 
On Mother’s Day, employees of the facility hand out a single carnation to each family that enters any of the facilities. There is no charge for the carnation and employees are not compensated for this service.

John Messina of Alexandria, who lost his mother to Alzheimer’s in the past year, said he placed red flowers on her grave that day.
“And I added the Alzheimers Foundation to my list of charities that I contribute to,” he said.

Origins of Mother’s Day in the United States date back as early as 1858, but it did not become an officially recognized holiday until 1914 under the administration of Woodrow Wilson. It was intended to recognize mothers who had lost sons during the war.

Within 10 years, the holiday had become sufficiently commercialized much to the chagrin of Anna Jarvis, its principal proponent.

Jim Lawrence is a contributing writer at the Stafford County Sun. Reach him at .