Tag: mothers

Celebrating Women: Health and Wellness Month

Mother’s Day celebrates mothers. While many enjoy meaningful family gatherings, others may experience grief and loss, which should be acknowledged and addressed. May also marks National Women’s Health Month, focusing on women’s health needs. The Women’s Health Initiative remains a vital tool for understanding women’s unique health needs and the current administration has pledged support despite recent funding concerns.

Mother’s Day

We designate the second Sunday in May to honor mothers in the United States.

Many, if not most, nations reserve a day to honor mothers. People everywhere recognize women’s value, not only biological mothers.

American Press Association, C. C. (ca. 1912) Youngest parader in New York City suffragist parade. New York, ca. 1912. 1912 May 4, May 6. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/97500068/.

MOTHER’S DAY -the movie

From Garry Marshall, the director of Pretty Woman and Valentine’s Day, comes MOTHER’S DAY, an all-star comedy that celebrates parenthood and family.

Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, and Jason Sudeikis lead an incredible cast in a film that intersects the lives of a group of people maneuvering their way through a crazy week of difficult relationships and family dysfunction in the week leading up to Mother’s Day.

It’s a comedy that will make you laugh, cry, and cheer! (This is an affiliate income-generating link)

Mother’s Day-a sad reality

But life isn’t a sitcom; sometimes family dysfunction, unexpected tragedies, and unfilled dreams can make this and other holidays difficult.

While many will buy flowers and cards for mothers and attend family brunches honoring motherhood, many will also spend Mother’s Day in grief and envy.

Many will spend the day mourning the absence of a loved and longed-for child. On a day dedicated to motherhood and maternal bonds, many will spend the day grieving over what they don’t have or never got to experience.

Elizabeth A Grill, Psy.D,

Dr. Grill offers advice on how to cope at this link.

Joannie DeBrito, Ph.D., offers this approach for women when Mother’s Day hurts.

If this Mother’s Day brings you hurt rather than joy, I encourage you to be honest with trusted family members and friends. Let them know you’re struggling and be willing to ask for help.

You’ll probably find that your honesty will encourage others in your life to open up and share their hurts with you. 

Joannie DeBrito, Ph.D.

If you struggle with depression, anxiety, or other issues that limit your enjoyment of life for any reason, consider seeking professional help. Start by talking to your physician, who may refer you to a mental health professional. You may also want to consider an online source for help available through Brightside.

)This is an affiliate link provided for your convenience. )

Women’s Health Month

The NCCC designates May as National Women’s Health Month.

Every year in May we shine an especially bright spotlight on the unique health needs of girls and women.

New policies and programs make quality healthcare accessible for millions and we want to make sure you take advantage of all that’s available.

You deserve to be well cared for in mind and body!

National Cervical Cancer Coalition -NCCC

f4d69405-92f5-4812-896b-6f9f6a3621c0Download

National Women’s Health Week

Every May beginning on Mother’s Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) leads National Women’s Health Week (NWHW).

This observance aims to highlight women’s health issues and priorities and encourage women of all ages to prioritize their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Women’s Health Initiative

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) is a long-term national health study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, or NHLBI. (An agency of the National Institutes of Health, NIH.)

The original WHI study began in the early 1990s and concluded in 2005. The study continued as Extension Studies in 2005 and 2010. The program was groundbreaking because it focused on women’s health when most medical studies focused on men.

The main research areas are cardiovascular disease, cancers, and osteoporotic fractures. Studies also focus on strategies to prevent the major causes of death, disability, and frailty in older women.

On April 22, 2025, multiple news media reported that the current administration was “gutting” funding for the WHI, shocking the medical research community.

However, barely two days later, the decision was reversed. According to CNN, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “we are not terminating this study.”

Preeclampsia Awareness Month

Thousands of women and babies get very sick each year from a dangerous condition called preeclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the post-delivery period.

Preeclampsia and related disorders such as gestational hypertension, HELLP syndrome, and eclampsia are most often characterized by a rapid rise in blood pressure that can lead to seizure, stroke, multiple organ failure, and even death of the mother and/or baby.

Post Images

The featured image was created by the AI feature of WordPress.

The photo of suffragettes with a baby is from the Library of Congress Free to Use collection.

Graphics used in this post are from the Office on Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, womenshealth.gov
(last updated February 27, 2025)Accessed at [https://womenshealth.gov/nwhw]

The PDF available for download is from the National Cancer Institute.

Exploring the HEART of health

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Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha

Choose a useful gift for Mom or Grandma

The perfect gift for a computer-savvy mom or grandma is a secure password manager like

RoboForm Password Manager. What I use to manage passwords.

RoboForm Password Manager

Go to this link to try RoboForm Free;

if you like it you can upgrade to RoboForm Everywhere version with all the features

With Roboform, you will have one less thing to feel stressed about. (affiliate link)

The Berenstain Bears book series was one of my sons’ favorites. I still like them.

Happy Mother’s Day

from The Berenstain Bears

(affiliate link)

Unsung Heroes-honoring mothers past and present

Mother’s Day is a widely celebrated occasion, with significant spending on gifts, meals, and travel. Notable mothers in leadership roles are changing the landscape. The movie “Unsung Hero” tells an inspiring story about a mother of seven who rebuilt her life in the face of adversity. Genealogical research and DNA testing offer valuable insights into family history and health.

Updated May 5, 2025

Many countries around the world have a day dedicated to honoring mothers. In the United States, that day occurs annually on the second Sunday in May. The day is so widely observed that May is almost synonymous with Mother’s Day.

“Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate the women who play a meaningful role in our lives,…”

NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay

Considering spending on gifts, meals, and travel, Mother’s Day is big business. “Mother’s Day spending is expected to reach $33.5 billion this year, (2024) according to the annual consumer survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The figure is the second highest recorded, following the 2023 record $35.7 billion. ” 

Mothers Who Lead

Melania Trump became First Lady in 2017 and in 2025. She is the mother of a son, Barron Trump, and stepmother to President Donald Trump’s other adult children.

First Lady Melania Trump visits The Children’s Inn at NIH-public domain

In 2024, the Vice President was a mother, a first in United States history. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is the first woman to hold that office. She is stepmother to the two children of her husband, former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (also a first).

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris signing holiday cards for servicemembers, November 2018. Photo credit: U.S. Congress

Former First Lady Jill Biden is both a stepmother and a mother. When she married President Joe Biden (then a Senator), he was a widower whose wife and daughter had died in a tragic automobile accident. She helped him raise his two sons and they have a daughter together.

First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden and Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks visit Fort Drum, NY, January 30, 2023. (U.S. Army photos by Spc. Kasimir Jackson)

There are mothers on the Supreme Court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has seven children, two of whom she and her husband adopted. The newest on the Court, Justice Ketanji Jackson has two daughters with her surgeon husband.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett . (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Official U.S. Senate photo by Rebecca Hammel)

Unsung Hero-the movie

I recently saw a new movie about a true story. Helen, a mother of six, lived in Australia with her concert promoter husband David.

She was pregnant with their seventh child when David’s business went bankrupt and they lost their large luxurious home. After several business leads fell through, they immigrated to the United States to start over, literally with nothing.

The movie convincingly portrays David’s anger, despair, and embarrassment that his business failure made his family destitute, for which he blamed himself. Meanwhile, Helen remained optimistic, clinging to her strong Christian faith, creating a warm loving home, and nurturing her children despite their lack of material possessions.

With sacrifice, hard work, prayer, and support from friends and their church, David slowly rebuilt a successful business, and all the children have built thriving, creative careers. Three of them are now well-known recording artists, which is how I learned about this movie.

Two of their sons, Joel and Luke, sing together as a “Christian pop” duo they call For King and Country.  My husband and I attended their concert which was quite a production of sound, lights, and energy, as you can see from the photos I’m sharing.

photos by Dr Aletha at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK

During the show, they introduced the movie, Unsung Hero, about their parents, Helen and David Smallbone.  Joel and Luke produced the film which Joel directed and played the part of his own father! (Spoiler alert, their sister, singer Rebecca St. James, has a cameo role in the film.)

We were intrigued and decided to see the film when it was released. We did and were not disappointed. It would make a remarkable story even if it weren’t true. You can find it on a streaming platform.

The Extraordinary Adventure of a Mum and Her Family 

After seeing the movie, I had to read the story behind it. In the book Behind the Lights: The Extraordinary Adventure of a Mum and Her Family, Helen Smallbone relates the struggles, setbacks, and eventual success her family went through to where they are today.

In this candid and revealing memoir, she describes how she trusted God no matter how dire the circumstances looked so that even in the darkest times their faith grew and as a family, they learned to depend on God and each other.

“Helen Smallbone’s heartfelt story illustrates what it means to really let God lead, which almost always means living outside the box of how the world says to live.

How did an ordinary Australian family produce two Grammy Award-winning artists—Rebecca St. James and FOR KING & COUNTRY? What happened to bring the Smallbones through closed doors and to new beginnings in the United States?

In Behind the Lights, Helen shares not only these stories of her family but of the life lessons they all learned along the way.” (Amazon affiliate link)

Listen to a sample from the audiobook here.

Unknown Mothers-Genealogy

I read an interesting statistic the other day. I don’t remember the source, but it claims that many people do not know the names of their four grandparents and even fewer know their eight great-grandparents.

That surprised me because even though I never met any of my grandparents, I at least knew their names. And thanks to genealogy research, now I know the names of my great-grandparents. I am a novice at genealogical research, but the more I do, the more fascinating it is.

If you want to know more about your ancestors, start now with your oldest living relatives; you don’t know how much longer they will be around and once they die their information is lost. Also, talk to younger relatives who may know more than you think.

Record and store everything you learn in a safe place.

pedigree-chart-modern-treeDownload

Genealogical information is easier to find now with the help of the internet, but not all information is reliable so you need to cross-check names and dates carefully. You can always use an all-purpose search engine like Google or Bing but sites specific for genealogy are more useful. Some of these are

Some genealogy sites are free, some offer a free trial, and some are free with optional upgrades.

DNA testing

Genetic genealogy creates family history profiles (biological relationships between or among individuals) using DNA test results combined with traditional genealogical methods. With DNA testing, genetic genealogy can determine the levels and types of biological relationships between or among individuals.

ILLUSTRATION OF DNA, Credit: Darryl Leja, NHGRI

This branch of genetics has become popular, as costs are drastically reduced making genealogical studies using molecular techniques accessible to the general public. The advantages of including DNA, instead of only using traditional genealogical research, include

  • the ability for researchers to extend their ancestry beyond the paperwork of recent centuries, and
  • to construct ancient pedigrees through molecular evolutionary studies.

Genealogists also use DNA to solve mysteries in their immediate families, such as to discover the biological parents of adoptees or to determine the accurate male ancestor in a non-paternity event (NPE).

Before taking a DNA test, consider the research question that you want to answer and learn about the different tests and companies that are available to choose from.

Mother’s Day

Whether you are reading this post on Mother’s Day or not, I hope you appreciate the mothers who impact your life, including those who are not biological relatives.

If you are a mother, consider leaving your descendants information about your ancestors to make their future genealogical searches easier, especially about family medical history that might impact their health.

A family health history can identify people with a higher-than-usual chance of having common disorders, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers, and type 2 diabetes. These complex disorders are influenced by a combination of genetic factors, environmental conditions, and lifestyle choices. A family history also can provide information about the risk of rarer conditions caused by variants (mutations) in a single gene, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease.

We can thank science for these tools, which help us anticipate and prevent disease and premature death and identify the “unsung heroes” from our genetic past.

Exploring the HEART of Health

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you turn health challenges into health opportunities.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha

Raymond and I at the For King and Country concert

Some affiliate links in this post pay a small commission to this blog if you make any purchase through them. Here are two other links you may find valuable and which also help support my work here.

Bookshop.org

Bookshop.org is an online bookstore that financially supports local, independent bookstores.

We believe bookstores are essential to a healthy culture and they are dedicated to the common good.

Bookshop.org donates a portion of every sale to independent bookstores.

Dwell Bible app

Many people find using their phones a convenient way to read and meditate on the Bible. And it’s easy to do so with the Dwell Bible App. With Dwell you can listen to and read the Bible and special devotional offerings for Advent, Lent, and throughout the year.