Love You Forever

I was contemplating what to write about for Mother's Day when Robert Munsch's story "Love You Forever" popped into my head. It's a story about a mom who sings a special song to her sleeping child throughout his life. She sings:

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

Even though the time where she climbs into his window when he's an adult to sing to him strikes me as a little creepy, I must admit that I can rarely get through reading the story without getting a bit choked up. The part that always gets me is when he sings back to his mom when she is too old and sick to sing to him:

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

That book, Love you Forever, reminds us how as parents, and as children, we are tied together in such an amazing and eternal bond. Your child will be your child no matter how old she or he gets, and you will be their Mom, even when you are gone. Cherish each other.

Sure, there are times in life when that bond is tested. There are times when as children, and even as parents, we may love each other but not necessarily like some things the other half has done or said. We need to appreciate that being a Mom can be one of the easiest but also one of the most difficult things to do in the world.

The easy part is how much love as a Mom you can feel for your child. You just have to look at them (sometimes on a rough day, it's best when they're sleeping) and that warmth swells up inside of you.

And it is the most difficult thing when, as their parent, you have to let your child make their own way in life, see them hurt by others or even by themselves.

No, I'm not perfect and not likely up for "Mother of the Year," but Jack and Caitlyn know I'll love them forever. And, I have a homemade Mother's Day card and a video slide show to prove that they love me too. And that's enough.