Henrietta Hay's Column

Last Sunday was Mother's Day. Motherhood is the only achievement of women that has been celebrated consistently throughout the centuries. It's one thing we can do that the guys can't.

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. Then during the 1600's, England celebrated "Mothering Sunday on the 4th Sunday of Lent to honor the mothers of England. But as Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church." Real mothers were getting too much attention.

But now in this country we get a national holiday and, depending on how old we are, we get breakfast in bed, lunch, flowers or a lot of wonderful memories -- or all of the above. And we love it. We all know that parenthood is the most important job in the world that comes without an instruction book. But we muddle through and have a lot of fun learning. At my age I can say that, since I have long since forgotten all the hard parts.

We have had a lot of interesting mothers over the years. They come in all sizes and shapes and personalities.

One of those was mine, but maybe I am prejudiced. She ruled her domain, which included me, with an iron hand but she thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Whenever it was called for she exchanged the iron hand for a soft, mushy one. Aside from her family, her interests were politics (Republican), Eastern Star and Mah Jong. I often wonder what she would think of today's world, and her Democrat daughter. I expect she would grit her teeth and give me a kiss and a lecture.

There was Sacajewea, whose picture is engraved on the new golden dollar. While still in her teens she accompanied the Lewis & Clark expedition as a translator with her infant son, Pomp, slung across her back. He was one of the youngest western explorers. The record doesn't indicate what he thought of Montana.

Another interesting mother was Sojourner Truth, former slave and abolitionist orator. At one point the St. Louis Dispatch reported that, "A man named Sojourner Truth is now lecturing in Kansas City" Having had nine children of her own and nursed the white babies of several of her mistresses, she was able to prove her gender quite clearly. And did so!

One mother-to-be-any-day-now in England is making news by suggesting rather strongly that the father should take family leave and spend a week bonding with the new baby. The father is Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England, who already has his hands full running the country. His countrymen are watching to see whether he will take some of the paternity leave that his reform-minded government has just made part of British law. His modern-man reputation is on the line. As of this writing, he has not yet announced his decision.

One mother I have always admired is Lillian Carter. She was 78 when Jimmy was elected President in 1976. She smoked (a little), drank (a little) and enjoyed doing almost anything "the ladies of the church think I shouldn't do....I am a Christian, but that doesn't mean I am a long faced square." And as to her son, "How could Jimmy ever criticize me? I'm his mama."

One of my favorite mothers is Abigail Adams, wife of one President and mother of another. The mother of five children including John Quincy, she stayed home and ran the farm while John helped form a new democracy, but she did not do it quietly. She was a prolific letter writer and raised her voice in support of equal opportunities and in opposition to slavery. She's the one who wrote her Founding Father husband, "John, remember the ladies"

And many thousands of my favorite mothers have been driven into concerted political action by threats to their children. First there was MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), many of whose children have been killed by drunk drivers. As of last Sunday we have the mothers in the Million Mom March, many of whose children have been killed by bullets.

I wonder what the next Mother's Day will bring.