Mother's Day gifts are often a card and some flowers. I won't be giving my mother any real flowers this year, or any other year... she's allergic to most kinds of flowers. She loves flowers, but unfortunately cannot be around them. Instead, my parents have bouquets of artificial flowers scattered about their home.
So... I am looking into sending artificial flowers as one of my Mothers Day gifts to her. It so happens that 1800FLOWERS.com offers a plethora of different types of artificial flowers along with its assortment of real ones. Besides the fact that my mother won't have visit the emergency room for a quick shot of cortisone, artificial flowers are better than real in many other ways. They don't wilt and they keep their beauty for years. Now... I just have to decide if roses (my favorite) or some other type of flowers will be one of my gifts for Mothers Day.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
A Brief History of Mother's Day
The modern celebration of Mother's Day in the United States was begun in the early 20th century by Anna Jarvis, who campaigned for a national day to honor mothers and as a way to honor her own deceased mother. But the idea of giving flowers as a gift to your mother goes back to the Middle Ages, to a day called Mothering Sunday in Europe.
During the Middle Ages, children as young as eight would be sent off to learn a trade or to work in the houses of the wealthy in neighboring towns. These children rarely got the chance to see their mothers, as transport was difficult and relatively expensive. Often, children would return home for the weekend on the fourth Sunday of Lent, before the Easter holidays, during which they were needed to help prepare for the Easter feasts. Along the way home, children would pick flowers for their mothers in this medieval Mothers Day, accompanied by gifts from their employers.
Today, Mother's Day is celebrated around the world, on different days, though it is celebrated by most countries on the second Sunday of May.
During the Middle Ages, children as young as eight would be sent off to learn a trade or to work in the houses of the wealthy in neighboring towns. These children rarely got the chance to see their mothers, as transport was difficult and relatively expensive. Often, children would return home for the weekend on the fourth Sunday of Lent, before the Easter holidays, during which they were needed to help prepare for the Easter feasts. Along the way home, children would pick flowers for their mothers in this medieval Mothers Day, accompanied by gifts from their employers.
Today, Mother's Day is celebrated around the world, on different days, though it is celebrated by most countries on the second Sunday of May.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Frank Hanna on the Love of Money
We have heard a lot about how people such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have given the majority of their fortunes away to charity. While many people with fortunes not so vast as theirs may see this philanthropy as a good thing, what has not really been explained are the reasons behind such philanthropy.
Frank J. Hanna III is a philanthropist in his own right, who belongs to the Philanthropy Roundtable, a group of individuals, corporate representatives, and members of foundations who gather each year to discuss their objectives for charitable donations. He writes in his book "What Your Money Means" about the importance of using your money to make the world a better place. In his book he discusses what it means to have money and the responsibilities inherent in possessing wealth.
Frank J. Hanna has had ample experience in creating wealth, having started Hanna Capital LLC, of which he is CEO, with his brother David Hanna in 1989. The company invests in other businesses and by 2007, it had over $4 billion dollars in assets. Much like Warren Buffet, Frank Hanna and his brother base their decisions on the real worth of a company before investing in it.
In an interview with Deal Hudson for InsideCatholic.com, Hanna rejects greed as the motivator of those who helped bring about the current economic crisis, but rather puts forth the idea that the West's culture of materialism led to the meltdown. He explains how credit, the flip side of debt, can be used to create wealth through investment in business and education, and that credit has been used instead to allow people to live beyond their means.
Hanna believes that the market economy is the best way to create wealth, and the reliance on the government to put things right is perhaps not the best policy. With the wealth created from the market economy comes prosperity, which creates jobs and other business opportunities. He quotes an ancient Jewish philosopher who stated that the best form of charity is to help people help themselves. He believes government cannot solve the problem alone, and that all of us are part of the solution.
"This is a crisis, but embedded within any crisis is opportunity," states Hanna.
Hanna does not see wealth as independent of the community, but sees it as a tool that can be used to better the lives of people in the community. As an entrepreneur and philanthropist he has invested much time, energy, and money into education. Much of his philanthropic giving goes towards improving education. Frank J. Hanna's book offers ample advice to those who have made money and wonder what to do with it.
The book is a moral guide to today's billionaires as well as the wealthy of the future, providing a moral compass that many of those who chase wealth in these times have forgotten.
Frank J. Hanna III is a philanthropist in his own right, who belongs to the Philanthropy Roundtable, a group of individuals, corporate representatives, and members of foundations who gather each year to discuss their objectives for charitable donations. He writes in his book "What Your Money Means" about the importance of using your money to make the world a better place. In his book he discusses what it means to have money and the responsibilities inherent in possessing wealth.
Frank J. Hanna has had ample experience in creating wealth, having started Hanna Capital LLC, of which he is CEO, with his brother David Hanna in 1989. The company invests in other businesses and by 2007, it had over $4 billion dollars in assets. Much like Warren Buffet, Frank Hanna and his brother base their decisions on the real worth of a company before investing in it.
In an interview with Deal Hudson for InsideCatholic.com, Hanna rejects greed as the motivator of those who helped bring about the current economic crisis, but rather puts forth the idea that the West's culture of materialism led to the meltdown. He explains how credit, the flip side of debt, can be used to create wealth through investment in business and education, and that credit has been used instead to allow people to live beyond their means.
Hanna believes that the market economy is the best way to create wealth, and the reliance on the government to put things right is perhaps not the best policy. With the wealth created from the market economy comes prosperity, which creates jobs and other business opportunities. He quotes an ancient Jewish philosopher who stated that the best form of charity is to help people help themselves. He believes government cannot solve the problem alone, and that all of us are part of the solution.
"This is a crisis, but embedded within any crisis is opportunity," states Hanna.
Hanna does not see wealth as independent of the community, but sees it as a tool that can be used to better the lives of people in the community. As an entrepreneur and philanthropist he has invested much time, energy, and money into education. Much of his philanthropic giving goes towards improving education. Frank J. Hanna's book offers ample advice to those who have made money and wonder what to do with it.
The book is a moral guide to today's billionaires as well as the wealthy of the future, providing a moral compass that many of those who chase wealth in these times have forgotten.
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