Mothers are important.     For many, mothers represent some of those ideals we cherish most and are viewed as caring, nurturing and selfless.

    Our very language is imbued with references to the their importance: Mother Nature, Mother Earth, mother lode, Mother Superior, motherland, mother tongue, Mother Goose and Mother Hubbard, to name a few.    

    We Americans tend to put our money where our mouth is and there is no denying the financial clout motherhood wields.

    Just take a look at some of the statistics for Mother’s Day.

    According to the National Restaurant Association, more people eat out on Mother’s Day than on any other holiday of the year, with nearly half of Americans predicted to dine out today or order restaurant takeout.

    The online site aboutflowers.com, estimates some 31 percent of U.S. adults will buy mom flowers for today, spending an estimated $2.3 billion.

    A National Retail Federation survey predicts Americans will spend an average of $172.63 on mom this year for Mother’s Day, with total spending of $21.2 billion.

    Some $786 million will be spent on greeting cards alone, with $4.3 billion spent on jewelry, an increase of nearly 32 percent from last year, according to the NRF.

    But it isn’t the money spent, but the reason it is spent that is important. We value mothers, and rightfully so.

    According to the website, brainyquote.com, some of the world’s most gifted people had this to say about mothers:

    • “God could not be everywhere, and therefor he made mothers.” — Rudyard Kipling

    • “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” — Henry Ward Beecher

    • “Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.” — Erich Fromm

    • “My mother said to me, ‘If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.’ Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.” — Pablo Picasso

    On this day, Mother’s Day, we salute our mothers, all 84.5 million of them in the U.S., according to U.S. Census figures.

    Only you know why your mother is important to you. If you cannot see her today, give her a call even if you have a hard time getting through. Did we mention that today, Mother’s Day, is the busiest Sunday of the year for long distance telephone calls?