Published: May 06, 2008 05:31 pm         

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Happy Mother's Day!

From one mother to another, I wish mothers reading this column a happy Mother’s Day! It was a long struggle for Anna Jarvis to convince the government to set aside a day to honor mothers. It had been a dream of her deceased mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis, that there should be such a day. In May 1914, the U.S. Congress passed legislation for the day. President Woodrow Wilson signed it and William Jennings Bryan, secretary of state, proclaimed the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day.

Although human mothers receive cards, flowers and candy, there are mothers in many species. Years ago I read about a mother bird whose actions embodied the spirit of motherhood.

This brief story was part of long article in National Geographic magazine investigating the damage from a large forest fire in Yellowstone National Park. A forest ranger found a dead bird sitting on the ground at the base of a tree. She was covered with ash and when he touched her gently with a stick three chicks scurried out from under her wings.

The ranger realized she had carried those babies from the nest to the ground knowing instinctively that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown away but instead she covered the little ones with her wings and protected them as the fire scorched her body.

An early tradition for Mother’s Day was wearing a red carnation if mother was alive or a white carnation if she had passed. For any wearing a white carnation there is a lovely Eskimo legend about the heavens and lost loved ones.

“Perhaps they are not stars; but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.”

***

Oh, how wrong I was. On November 13, 1991 the headline on "Random Thoughts" read, "Death penalty assessed a national hero." That week NBA Lakers’ star player Earvin “Magic” Johnson held a press conference to announce he had AIDS.

In that column I included the words of Chattanooga sports columnist Mark Wiedmer, “Such irresponsible behavior now shoves Johnson perilously close to paying the highest price. So stupid. So senseless. So sad. When will we learn? All actions have consequences. Some irreversible.”

My interest in Magic began when we lived in Lansing, MI and watched the Michigan State basketball team win the NCAA championship in 1979. Magic went on to be a star in the NBA and he was the same personable, natural smiling young man until that day in 1991 when his life changed.

Now, 17 years later, an older Magic is still smiling and personable. Last night, May 6, he was honored as the third annual USA Today Hollywood Hero to receive the award.

The award reads: "NBA Legend, entrepreneur and philanthropist Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, receives this award for his work in entertainment and underserved communities with the Magic Johnson Foundation. Over the past few years, the foundation has awarded more than $1.1 million in funds, established 21 Magic Johnson Community Endowment Centers, four HIV/AIDS clinics and has co-created the award-winning 'I Stand With Magic' campaigns to end HIV/AIDS in the black community."

Yes, his life changed by bringing change to so many other lives.