In May 1988 I was celebrating my first Mother's Day as a mom. I remember my mother handing me a copy of this book "I'll Love You Forever" while we were standing in my Momo's living room in Atkins. We had all gathered there on a Saturday in May. My parents had driven from Texas to Arkansas to celebrate Mother's Day with both of their own mothers. We were living in Little Rock at that time, and made the drive to Atkins to spend a day with the family. I remember being filled with pride and joy as we arrived in Atkins with my firstborn in my arms. I also remember her being whisked away by all the women....my mom, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunts and my sister. I probably didn't have her in my arms again until the first dirty diaper of the day.
I don't remember what gift I had for my mom on that particular Mothers Day, but I do remember her giving me this book. And I remember reading the book over and over to my daughter, Casie, and then years later, to my daughter, Lindsey. It's a wonderful story about the unconditional love a mother has for her child. But it's so much more than a story written for children. It's really a story written ABOUT mothers, how they love their children, and how that love, so unconditional and strong, is returned to them.
The verse that is repeated throughout the story is:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
I always felt that from my mom. I've never doubted that her love is a "forever and always" kind of love for me. But I truly had no idea of the depth of that love until I became a mother myself. And on that Mothers Day weekend in May, when my mom handed me that book, and I read it, I remember tears welling up in my eyes, and I got it. Even though I had only been a mother for a few short months, I already knew that I would love this child (and her sister years later) unconditionally. I had already experienced the feeling of "I can't possibly love this much" to realizing my love, already so big, was continuing to grow each and every day. When I was pregnant with my second child, the wellspring of motherly love simply continued to grow deeper still.
One of the sweetest parts about this book, is that no matter whether the child is a sweet baby, terrible toddler, mischievous child, rebellious teenager, or self absorbed adult...the mother still wants to rock the child and hold him in her arms. And the funny part of the book is her climbing into his window when he's asleep, and doing just that. There are fewer things more precious than being held in your mother's arms, or holding your own children in your arms. Once you've experienced that deep nurturing feeling of a mother's arms, you don't even have to be geographically close to feel those arms around you. I can feel my mother's embrace being several hundred miles away. I have friends who have lost their mothers who can still feel that embrace.
The book ends with the grown man climbing into his aging mother's window one night, holding her in his arms and singing that song to her that she sang to him. The love and the embrace come full circle.
Casie and Lindsey...I hope you know my love for each of you is forever and always.
Thank you Mom, for all the love and embracing. I hope you feel it coming back to you full circle and even more.
I hope that everyone feels that embrace...whether you are with your mother or not. She loves you forever.
