Florida CFO Jeff Atwater’s Mother’s Day Message

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater released the following message for Mother's Day:

President Ronald Reagan said, 'From our mothers, we first learn about values and caring and the difference between right and wrong.' Each of us has a mother, grandmother or someone who is like a mother in our lives who guides and shapes our character. My mother instilled those very important character-building qualities in me, just as my wife, Carole, does with our four children. A mothers strength lifts us up when we feel as if we can go no further, and her love inspires us to achieve the seemingly impossible. She encourages us to aim high, take the right path and exemplify what it means to be a good citizen.

On Sunday, we celebrate generations of tenacious mothers who have guided our great nation to what it is today. The history of this holiday speaks volumes about how integral mothers have been in the shaping of our nation. Having witnessed the destruction of the Civil War, writer and activist Julia Ward Howe called upon the mothers of both the North and South to protest further bloodshed between their sons. In her Mothers Day Proclamation of 1870, she called for an international Mothers Day celebrating peace and motherhood. It wasnt until President Woodrow Wilsons proclamation in 1914 that the second Sunday in May was officially designated as Mothers Day.

Although we dedicate one day to the admiration and celebration of mothers, let us remember to show them our appreciation and love every day. To all the mothers who fill our lives with joy and who make this world a better place, I wish you a blessed day.

Read a full list of Mother's Day message right now in Sunshine State News.