Growing up in St. Kitts in the West Indies, Edris Francis had never heard of Mother’s Day. She knew about Christmas and Easter, but Thanksgiving, Valentine’s, and many of the other days Americans celebrate were foreign to her until she moved to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands in 1988.

“We didn’t do Mother’s Day in St. Kitts. We didn’t know anything about Mother’s Day,” said Ms. Francis, a manager at McDonald’s at Dorr Street and Collingwood Boulevard. Her husband, Selwyn Francis, and son, Drissel Francis, also work at a McDonald’s. The elder Mr. Francis is a maintenance employee and the younger trains new hires.

Thirteen years ago, the rest of the family moved to the United States where the Francis’ daughter, Maylin Wattley, was already in school. A graduate of Wilberforce University and the University of Toledo, Ms. Wattley’s children — daughter Sapphire Holston, 12, and son Malachi Wattley, 11 — are close to their grandparents.

The family credits the Internet for Mother’s Day celebrations in St. Kitts now. Ms. Wattley, a daycare center and dress shop owner who also tutors children and has written a children’s book and a book of poetry, said flowers are even sold on street corners, just as they are in this country.