French husband bestows a second Mother's Day on Jeri Ryan

 

Body of Proof's Jeri Ryan apparently is twice the mother most American moms are. Today she is celebrating her second Mother's Day in a month.

 

"Among the many benefits of being married to a Frenchman: I get to celebrate French Mother's Day too. Breakfast in bed this morning! ;-)" she tweeted this morning.

 

The former Miss Illinois and third runner-up in the 1990 Miss America pageant has a 16-year-old son Alex with her first husband Jack Ryan, a Chicago Republican who withdrew his candidacy for an Illinois seat in the  U.S. Senate seat against Barack Obama. She also has a 3-year-old daughter Gisele with her current husband Christophe Émé.

 

Mother's day is celebrated by many cultures in many ways throughout the world, usually sometime between March and June. The French tradition started by the Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte, Fetes des Meres was made official in 1950. The French tradition includes a day of relaxation from the motherly duties, gifts and a large dinner honoring the mother. 

But not all of her Twitter followers believed she was doubly deserving.

 

"You should be limited to the Mother's Day of your homeland. It makes no sense for you to be celebrating unless you're in France," someone who identified himself or herslef as AbysmalJustice tweeted in reply.

 

Of course, living in a nation that long has billed itself as a melting pot, the notion of two or more celebrations isn't so unusual. The Dutch and Germans celebrate St. Nicholas an Christmas. Those with ties to Eastern Orthodoxy may observe both the western Christmas and the Eastern Christmas 12 days later. East Indian brides have dual Hindu and American wedding ceremoneis and garb. In short, they celebrate what is important to them and what they can afford.

 

For Ryan, who was born into an American military family in Munich, West Germany, dual celebrations actually may have been the norm.