How to Be There When Mother’s Day Isn’t Easy
By SIMMONE SHAH for TIME
In the early 1900’s, Anna Jarvis created Mother’s Day as a way to memorialize her mother who had passed away and acknowledge the sacrifices made by mothers who had worked to improve the lives of others.
Whether it is the supermarket displays of flowers and cards or the deluge of promotional sales for gifts, what the holiday has become often leaves little space for loss. “The holiday itself was established to honor someone who’s mother died,” says Meghan Riordan Jarvis, a clinical psychotherapist with experience in the fields of trauma, grief, and loss. “But we’ve morphed it into taking our mothers to brunch.”
Part of this shift is because some find it difficult to know how to support someone who is struggling on Mother’s Day. Experts tell TIME that supporting someone through the day can be as simple as acknowledging their feelings surrounding the holiday.
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