Anna Jarvis hated Mother’s Day.

It’s not that she had anything against mothers or motherhood in general. True, she remained childless for her entire life, but she fully supported the idea of women having children. Nor did she have a problem with her own mother. Quite the contrary, she had a wonderful relationship with her mom and honored her memory. It was Mother’s Day that bugged her.

She objected to the rampant commercialism associated with the holiday. In her mind, if there was going to be a holiday dedicated to mothers, it should actually be focused on mothers, not be a sorry excuse to make a profit. She was disgusted by all the sales of candy, flowers, and gifts.

She villainized the ever-growing Mother’s Day industry, describing the merchants as “charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers, and termites that would undermine with their greed one of the finest, noblest, and truest movements and celebrations.”

The greeting card industry, in particular, drew her ire. She wrote, “A printed card means nothing, except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.”

She was particularly irked when she saw the day written as “Mothers’ Day,” with the apostrophe at the end of the word. Each person and family should be honoring one particular mother. “Mothers’ Day” took the focus off that special woman in each person’s life.

Jarvis was so opposed to Mother’s Day that she went to great lengths to get it abolished. She organized protests, getting herself arrested in the process. She threatened lawsuits. She lobbied elected leaders to adopt legislation to wipe the holiday off the calendar once and for all.

Obviously, her efforts failed. Despite her opposition to Mother’s Day cards, sons and daughters purchase more than 113 million of them each year in the United States. Twenty-six percent of all flower sales for the year are for Mother’s Day, exceeded only by Valentine’s Day and Christmas.

Why did Anna Jarvis think she stood a chance to change the calendar and a major holiday? Perhaps it is because she had some success in the past with that very thing. Back in 1908, she became convinced that a new holiday should be established. She threw her time and energy into the task. For six years she wrote letters, knocked on doors, and pleaded with anyone who would give her the time of day.

All of her hard work paid off. In 1914, Anna Jarvis experienced her proudest moment when President Woodrow Wilson declared a brand new national holiday: Mother’s Day.

That’s right. The woman who spent the last years of her life fighting against Mother’s Day was the one responsible for creating it. The woman who never became a mother lived long enough to regret the very thing she labored so hard to birth.

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