BIRTHDAYS:  Irving Berlin, 1888; Martha Graham, 1894; Salvador Dali, 1904; Phil Silvers, 1912; Denver Pyle, 1920; Mort Sahl, 1927; Doug McClure, 1935; Randy Quaid, 1950.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

On this date in 1752 the first United States fire insurance policy was issued.

On this date in 1910 Glacier National Park was established.

MEANINGLESS FACTS:  It takes about a yard of sugar cane to make one sugar cube... The record for spitting a watermelon seed is 65 feet, 4 inches... Spinach loses fifty percent of its vitamin C content within 24 hours after being picked.

TRIVIA:  What is the only team in American pro sports to be named after an insece?

     Here is a bit of homespun wisdom:  "You get indigestion when a square meal doesn't fit in a round stomach" (anonymous).  I hope you enjoy Friday!

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From Leroy Sedgwick's Bulletin -- [email protected]

A TRIBUTE TO MOTHERS

 
She could not paint, nor write, nor rhyme
        Her footprints on the sands of time,
As some distinguished women do;
        Just simple things of life she knew —
Like tucking little folks in bed,
        Or soothing someone’s aching head.

She was no singer, neither blessed
        With any special loveliness
To win applause and passing fame;
        No headlines ever blazed her name.
But, oh, she was a shining light
        To all her loved ones, day and night!

Her home her kingdom, she its queen;
        Her reign was faithful, honest clean,
Impartial, loving, just, to each
        And every one she sought to teach.
Her name? Of course, there is no other
        In all the world so sweet — just Mother!
 
                                   —MAY ALLREAD BAKER

“A mother is the only person on earth who can divide her love among ten children and each child still have all her love."
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Thanks to a friend:  Another Mother's Day Poem
 
Before I was a Mom I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth every single day.

Before I was a Mom I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.

Before I was a Mom I had never been
Puked on,
Pooped on,
Spit on,
Chewed on,
Peed on.
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mom I had complete control of:
My thoughts,
My body,
My mind.
And I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom I never looked into
Teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping
Baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million
Pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart walk around outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to
Feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom I had never gotten up in the middle
Of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known:
The warmth,
The joy,
The love,
The heartache,
The wonderment,
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much...
BEFORE I was a Mom.
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
And the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
So are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
They shall not be ashamed,
But they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5
 
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Thanks to a friend:  A WOMAN OF STRENGTH

A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape, but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.....

A strong woman isn't afraid of anything... but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.....

A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her... but a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone.....

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future.... a woman of strength realizes life's mistakes can also be God's blessings and capitalizes on them......

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face.... but a woman of strength wears grace.....

A strong woman walks sure-footedly.... but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls....

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey.... but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong through her faith in God.....

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Thanks to a friend:  A history of Mother's Day

By HOLLY HILDEBRAND Houston Chronicle Interactive

The first celebrations in honor of mothers were held in the spring in ancient Greece. They paid tribute to Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 17th century, England honored mothers on "Mothering Sunday," celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

In the United States, Julia Ward Howe suggested the idea of Mother's Day in 1872. Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, saw Mother's Day as being dedicated to peace.

Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia is credited with bringing about the official observance of Mother's Day. Her campaign to establish such a holiday began as a remembrance of her mother, who died in 1905 and who had, in the late 19th century, tried to establish "Mother's Friendship Days" as a way to heal the scars of the Civil War.

Two years after her mother died, Jarvis held a ceremony in Grafton, W. Va., to honor her. She was so moved by the proceedings that she began a massive campaign to adopt a formal holiday honoring mothers. In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mother's Day. A year later, nearly every state officially marked the day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed Mother's Day as a national holiday to be held on the second Sunday of May.

But Jarvis' accomplishment soon turned bitter for her. Enraged by the commercialization of the holiday, she filed a lawsuit to stop a 1923 Mother's Day festival and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a war mothers' convention where women sold white carnations -- Jarvis' symbol for mothers -- to raise money. "This is not what I intended," Jarvis said. "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit!"

When she died in 1948, at age 84, Jarvis had become a woman of great ironies. Never a mother herself, her maternal fortune dissipated by her efforts to stop the commercialization of the holiday she had founded, Jarvis told a reporter shortly before her death that she was sorry she had ever started Mother's Day. She spoke these words in a nursing home where every Mother's Day her room had been filled with cards from all over the world.

Today, because and despite Jarvis' efforts, many celebrations of Mother's Days are held throughout the world. Although they do not all fall at the same time, such countries as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium also celebrate Mother's Day on the same day as the United States.

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ANSWER:  The NBA's Charlotte Hornets -- The name, selected in a 1988 contest, refers to a letter British General Charles Cornwallis sent to the king of England from the Carolinas during the Revolutionary War.  In it  he wrote, "This place is like fighting in a hornet's nest."

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