May is one of my favorite months of the year. It is the time of the year that we honor three of our everyday heroes—our teachers, mothers, and our veterans.
If you appreciate the knowledge you have acquired over the years thanks to your teachers, Teacher Appreciation Week, which lasts from May 3-7, is the week in which you can show your gratitude. It is a week in which you can reward the teachers of your choice with a sincere gratitude. Tuesday, May 4, will represent Teacher Appreciation Day this year, where students can offer their thanks to all their current and past teachers.
Teacher appreciation week is not only a way for students to celebrate their teachers but also for people to learn more about teaching as a profession and its merits. The important message conveyed throughout the week is teachers and how they have helped you succeed in your education. Showing your gratitude is a gift in itself so teachers will know that their help and advice is been appreciated.
To understand Mother's Day and what it really means, you need to understand that the most important person in your life is your Mother. She is the one who nurtured you in her womb and brought you forth to enjoy the supreme blessing on earth, that is, Life. Your Mother guided you through your infancy and turns you into the powerful and successful you. She is your best friend.
Sunday, May 9, is the day to stop, remember, and pray for that special person in our life, without whom we would not be what we are today. It is a day to prove that all her efforts towards making us a complete person have been worthwhile and to make her feel proud for us. In the broader sense of the term, Mother's Day is a day to be grateful to God for being so kind as to bless us with an angel in the form of Mother.
The custom of honoring mothers goes back at least as far as 17th-century England, which celebrated (and still celebrates) Mothering Sunday, which is a Christian Holiday. Mother's Day in the United States originated in 1872. In 1911, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.
We are known throughout the San Gabriel Valley for honoring our Veterans. In Azusa, we celebrate Vietnam Veterans Appreciation Day (March 30), Memorial Day (May), Korean War Armistice Day (July 27), and Veterans Day (November 11) each year. We have a park named Veterans Freedom Park located just north of City Hall and the Library. We have a Veterans Memorial Monument in front of City Hall. And we have one of the main streets at the Rosedale Development named Veterans Way.
Memorial Day this year will be celebrated on Monday, May 31, in front of City Hall. It originated in 1868, a day in which the graves of Civil War soldiers would be decorated, known as Decoration Day. The holiday was changed to Memorial Day in 1888, dedicated to the memory of all war dead. It became a federal holiday in 1971.
I encourage you to honor our everyday heroes during the month of May.
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