For all "moms" in the world

In the 19th century, the city of Albion, Michigan, was the national headquarters for the Prohibition National Committee.

According to local legend, things heated up between the prohibitionists and their opponents, the "Saloonists". On May 11, 1877, the anti-temperance union kidnapped three sons of local leaders, forced them to spend the night in a saloon and drink alcohol.

One of the boys was the son of the local pastor.

His son's humiliation left the minister so distraught that when he took to the pulpit the following Sunday, he couldn't complete his sermon.

A parishioner, Juliet Calhoun Blakeley, who was celebrating her birthday that day, stepped forward. She finished the homily, and encouraged other mothers to support the temperance movement.

Her action that Sunday, May 13, 1877, delighted her sons, Charles and Moses. Proud of their mother, they encouraged other children to honour their own moms on the second Sunday of May each year.

In 1910, West Virginia became the first state officially recognize Mother's Day. Four years late, President Wilson approved a resolution making it a nation obsvervance.

Gérard LEROY, le 7 juin 2009