Love. You. Forever.
See, when Kole was young, we found a book by Robert Munsch called "Love You Forever".
Now this is a GREAT book.
Yes sir.
It made Grandma cry EVERYTIME she read it!
It is a story about a mother, who every night, holds her new born baby boy, and sings him a song:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My Baby you'll be.
In the story, the little boy grows and grows and grows, until he buys a house and moves across town. But even then, on some nights, when the mother is lonely (and maybe just a little clingy), she would drive across town, crawl through his open window (which caused him to almost have a nervous break down thinking his house was getting broken into every night!) and held him tight while he slept, still singing the song:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My Baby you'll be.
The book paints this absolutely beautiful picture of a Mothers love!
But then towards the end of the book, she calls her son up, says that she is old and sick, and he better come soon.
When he enters her room, she tries to sing the song, but she is too weak, and can not finish it.
So the boy (who is now a man, deathly afraid of thieves who keep breaking into his house and re-arranging his sock drawer) picks up his mother, and sings to her:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My Mother you'll be.
Beautiful! Tears EVERYWHERE! Grandma could NOT make it thought the book without crying! At baby showers, SOMEONE would always buy the book, and then make Grandma read it.
So what did we do for Grandmas Birthday a few years back?
We bought her a NICE Hard Cover version of the book which came in a hard collectors sleeve!
And our Dear Son, at the tender age of 2 would climb up on his Grandmothers lap, and ask her to read it over, and over and over and over. And Grandma would cry and cry and cry.
Now I was pretty immune to this book when I was younger. But by the time our 3rd child came around, I noticed I started getting a little choked up while reading it... normally around the time when the Son was singing to the mother.
I'm not sure why I've changed over the years.
- Maybe its the maturing process I've gone though.
- Maybe its a deeper understanding of life, love and loss.
- OR MAYBE, its the fact that children are like a meat tenderizer to our parental meaty souls and we can only stay so rough and rugged for so long before their little adorable constant never ending assault on our lives leave us as nothing but a pulverized mess of our former selves?!
I donno about you, but after 4 kids, I'm going with Option #3 above.
Anyway, a while back, SOMEONE bought my daughter a book called "Dance Me, Daddy" by Cindy Morgan.
Now, unlike that Munsh rubbish mentioned before, THIS book is about a Father and his Daughter. In THIS book, the little girl grows from a baby to a woman who, instead of being stalked by a crazy obsessive Mother who just can't learn to let go (kidding, I don't think a mother EVER has to totally let go of their children), has a MUCH MORE balanced relationship with her Father, and simply asks her to Dance with her.
Dance me,
Dance me around.
So my feet, never touch down.
There's nothing better than being your girl.
And if I am your Princess,
Then you are,
The King of my World!
Oh CRAP! I'm tearing up just TYPING the darned lyrics! Why do people write these kinds of books!
Anyway, these books are beautiful, just painting this picture of what a parent should mean to their children. And I hope that every parent has those moments when their child looks at them, and curls up on their lap, and sings them a song, asks them to dance... or whatever it is that is so special in your own family.
I guess life is funny that way... here I used to think it was funny that my Mother couldn't make it though a book without crying. Now I get it. :-)
Last night reading the book, I barely made it though the book without totally loosing it. I love Ping, and her questions... "Daddy, Daddy, why you cry?" I try explaining to her that crying is OK sometimes. Sometimes we cry because we are happy, or because we love someone. Oh that was fun. My other daughter knew to just crawl up into her Daddys lap, and snuggle in. Ping, then, looking at her sister, understood more there than all the words I tried to use. She then crawled up on my lap as well, and snuggled in for a nice long cuddle - before it was bed time.
How wonderful to feel her relax in my arms, and really be at peace...
...until I try to give her a good-night kiss - then I get the "NO DADDY! YOU SHAVE! You shave. THEN kiss! No owies!".
*siiiigh*
I love "Love You Forever" and I can't read it WITHOUT crying. I'll have to look for the other book. Sounds like another teary one!
ReplyDeleteYour mother's gonna make you take down the photo of her you know (-:.........
ReplyDelete~R
I love R. Munsch's "Love you Forever" (and yes, I choke up every time), but now I guess I better go and check out this new book.
ReplyDeleteCory has taught Sylvie the difference between "smooth" and "rough" depending on if she kisses his cheek in the morning before work, or when he comes home at the end of the day.
Daddy's and Daughters...
~Joyanne
Ha! Gotta lov'em! Ping will kiss my forehead, cuz it has "no owies". I guess you take kisses when and how you can get 'em.
ReplyDeleteAs for my mothers photo - she can't make me take it down until she reads the post. :-)
25 years ago I was tearing up over "I Love you Forever"...My son and daughter, they both got it, and I STILL cry..and I still do, and yet now I tear up over "unamed adoption stories". But they make me cry...almost evry story makes me cry...I need hormones!
ReplyDeleteA favourite tear-jerker in our home too.
ReplyDeleteFriends picked up extra copies of Love You Forever and are replacing the illustrated pages with photos of their family to give to their children when they are older. I can only imagine the tears those versions will bring!
We have that book! Oh, you want a longer, more useful comment? Um...
ReplyDeleteOk I forgot - I bough a book before Emma was born called "Emma's Pet". It was about a little girl's search for a new pet, until she eventually settled on the one she already had; her big, fluffy dad. Hey wait a minute!!!
ReplyDeleteT: Really?! They had to add thier OWN pictures?! As if it wasn't a tear jerker enough with non-descript anonymous people.
ReplyDeleteMike: Fluffly? You? Um, no. :-) But yes, I love the job of being a PlayGround for our children. Its one of the best(er) jobs of being a Dad.
Thanks! Now I am crying at work.
ReplyDeleteHave you read, 'Just In Case you Ever Wonder.' by Max Lucado? The part that gets to me...well all of it does. But the big part is when it says, I will teach you about heaven...in heaven there will be no tears, no....and I WILL BE THERE TOO -> I promise. I am glad to hear I am not the only emotional wrek out there.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog...I'm glad I'm not the only goof ball that cries over that book. I finally hid it.
ReplyDeleteShaoey and Dot is just as bad. My girls watch my face instead of the pictures in the book