The Spanish word “comadre” is used to refer to either a close friend or sister, but it’s also used by the parents of a child to refer to his/her godmother, or conversely, by the godparents toward the mother of the child. In our book, Count On Me: Tales of Sisterhoods and Fierce Friendships, Esmeralda Santiago’s story “Las Comais” recounts memories of her mother’s “comadres” when she was growing up in Puerto Rico. The children in the Barrio Macún seem to be collectively raised by all the comadres in the neighborhood. In essence, these women are “co-mothers” to the children.
In Lorraine López story “Crocodiles and Plovers” and in Reyna Grande’s story “My Teacher, My Friend,” the comadre figure appears as a sort of surrogate mother – a teacher/mentor who has stepped in not only to encourage the student along her career path, but also playing the role of nurturing older woman in the absence of an actual mother.
In the Hispanic culture, it’s typical to have “mother-like” figures in our lives, whether they are aunts, grandmothers, family friends, neighbors, or colleagues. So on Mother’s Day, it’s also customary to recognize these women, along with our birth mothers.
Mother’s Day in the United States is an annual holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Mother’s Day recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well the positive contributions that they make to society. Although many Mother’s Day celebrations world-wide have quite different origins and traditions, most have now been influenced by the more recent American tradition established by Anna Jarvis, who celebrated it for the first time in 1908, then campaigned to make it an official holiday.
In Mexico, Mother’s Day was first imported from United States in 1922. Today “Día de las Madres” is a holiday celebrated annually on May 10 in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. In Bolivia, Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 27, on the date of a battle in which women participated.
Do you celebrate Mother’s Day on the U.S. date or on a different date? Or both? How do you celebrate?