(Newswire.net — May 7, 2015) Seattle, Washington — Chicago, IL — A new video from Pandora Jewelry has gone viral with over 20,000,000 combined Facebook and YouTube views in less than a month. Called “The Unique Connection” and shot very simply in an empty room, the black and white video shows 6 mothers standing in a line. One by one their children, ages 3-6, are blindfolded then asked to identify their mother. The children slowly walk forward to try to touch the women’s hair, sniff them, and caress their face, as they all individually recognize their own mother.
One of the most touching things is the changing look from worry to joy on the faces of the mothers as their children wrap their arms around them, hugging tightly. Some wipe tears from their eyes, while others seem concerned if their child will be able to pick them out of the lineup. And yet, 100% of the children pick their own mother within seconds of touching them.
The video underscores the importance of the bond between mother and child, and the unique connection they have. But what about the bond between adult children and their mothers. Would an adult child also be able to identify their mother by touch, feel and smell? According to Kira Birditt, a University of Michigan researcher and the lead author of a 2009 study on relationships between parents and their adult children, “The parent-child relationship is one of the longest lasting social ties human beings establish.”
According to Gabriella Kovac, author of Georgina: Holocaust Survivor Stories, the influence of a mother can be such a very powerful weapon, that some children will risk certain death to rescue or reunite with their mothers – and it rarely diminishes as they age. “We form so many different relationships over the course of our lives, however the relationship between parent and child is the most important…” states Kovac.
Although children mature and form their own unique personalities, in many cases the bonds remain strong and indelible. Gabriella Kovak understands the bond well. In her best-selling book, Georgina, a Hungarian Jew who, along with her entire family, survived the German invasion of Hungary, she recounts the story of her mother, who was being held prisoner in a synagogue by armed guards. Georgina’s brother, Andor came up with a daring plan to rescue his mother, fully understanding that he was risking almost certain death for them both if his plan failed.
Dressed in a German military uniform, Andor marched past the armed guards and into the synagogue. When he located his mother, he placed his gun at her back and ordered her to march out the door and through the gate…right under the guard’s noses.
While the relationship between mother and child is rarely tested to the extent that Georgina’s and Andor’s was, it serves as a powerful reminder of the connection between the two.
On this Mother’s Day, perhaps we can take a moment and consider the bonds between ourselves and our own mother, recalling and reconnecting in the most basic way, because, after all, we’re not only in each other’s hearts, but also, we’re connected on an even deeper level. In Gabriella’s case, her mother, Georgina showed amazing courage and strength under Nazi tyranny. These qualities not only saved her life, but created a bond that lives to this day.