Sunday, November 4, 2007

I'll love you forever......

I read this poem from the website of another mom, Melissa, and it hit home for many reasons. Hope you don't mind Melissa..........and thank you for sharing it with me.
1.) Because I hope to have this bond with my children
2.) My mother is very ill, and it made me think of her. During the past couple of weeks she has lost her ability to do many things, and my brother Greg (bless his heart) is the only one my mom truly felt comfortable enough to trust to carry her from her wheelchair and lift her into bed.

It is by Robert Munsch

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!

But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!

But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town.

But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...

But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my Mommy you'll be.

When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

7 comments:

Jacolyn said...

After reading Melissa's blog, I picked up our copy of the book and read it to my trio...of course, I cried.

Melissa said...

I don't mind at all! It is one of my favorite children's books. Robert Munsch is an amazing author of kids' books. His books are funny and yet this one is so touching. It started as a song that he wrote after two of his children were born still. He said he could never sing the song without crying so he decided to publish it as a book. He was actually turned down by his first publisher as they felt it wasn't a kids book...so he went somewhere else. I am so glad he did. It is a beautiful book for all ages!

Sorry I have everyone crying!! LOL I can't read it without crying either.

Anonymous said...

oh i love that book. its very much so over the kids heads but its a tear jerker when i read it almost every time. and yes momma we do have that bond. and i will care for you the same way.

love ya.

Shannon said...

I love this book too! I actually have bought Ashton a book for each birthday (he's only had two so far LOL) but this was the one from his second birthday...and I always make sure to write something special in the front cover....

Anonymous said...

This book touched me so much I gave both my sons one. My new daughter-in -law-who had a terrible relationship with both her biological Mother & Stepmother saw the book and she thinks it is crazy. She tried to make it sound sick .....I think she is sick !!!!!!!

kara_vamp02 said...

i love this book, my mom read it to me every night growing up and now im a teenager and i still love it i live 3,000 miles away from her and she always finds a way to call and say the quote to me. im getting a tattoo of it for my mom. this book is so much like me becuase i was and am the kid who made a huge mess and wore crazy clothes and she still every night would come into my room or call when i wasnt there to tell me shed love me forever...ever since i was too i havent missed a day of saying ill love you forever ill like you for always as long as im living my mommy you'll be! shes always there for me and ill always be there for her..

Anonymous said...

I thought this was very cute, Im only a teenm, and I heard about this form a movie and I searched the story, This is, by far, my favorite childrens book. "I'll love you forever I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be."