Sunday, January 4, 2009

Have I always been such a sap?


Have you ever read this book? If your a sentimental emotional nut-job like I am, I suggest you don't. G-tot pulled it off the shelf last night for our evening bedtime story ritual. I knew before I opened the book to the first page it was going to be trouble.

It's a story about a woman who sings a song to her son each night. "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." The story shows her singing it to her son as an infant, a young boy, a teenager, and an adult. A grown man. That's when I lost it. Seeing the illustration of this woman cuddling & singing to her grown child broke my heart. I know G-tot is just a toddler now, but it goes by so fast.

I managed to sniffle through that spread but broke down all over again when I turned the page. At the end of the story the Mother is old and frail and can no longer sing to her son. So, the son comes to his Mom, cradles her in HIS arms and sings, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my Mommy you'll be." Holy crap people. Just pass the freakin' Kleenex won't you?

Then the son goes home, picks up his infant daughter, and sings the song his Mom sang to him for so many years. Le, sigh… I think I might have to hide that story up in a closet somewhere. I don't know if I could read it again without my heart crumbling all over.

16 comments:

Christina said...

We have this book and it used to make me cry EVERY TIME I read it. Then one day, I was reading it out loud to Chase, and getting all choked up, and I got to the part where the baby boy is a grown man, and his mother drives across town, sneaks into his house, pulls him out of bed and cradles him in her arms and sings that song to him. And it struck me as weird and funny, because Hello? That guy's wife can't be totally comfortable with that arrangement. Ever since then, the book makes me laugh. I should note that have a weird sense of humor.

Have you ever read the book Someday by Alison McGee? It makes me absolutely sob. I was going to buy it for a friend who is having a baby and then I thought, "Wait, why would I do this to someone else?" It's cute and good, but talk about emotional torture.

Holly {ArtistMotherTeacher} said...

Christina—JQ and I were laughing over the fact that she crawls across the floor and the weirdness factor of having the ladder tied to her car so she can crawl through the window of her son's house. We haven an odd sense of humor too. That's probably why I can muster a dirty joke out of the dialogue of almost any kid's show we watch.

Fraulein N said...

Hee, I'm cracking up at Christina's comment, because this book has always creeped me out. My mom was showing it to me, telling me how emotional it made her and then I had to be like ... um, not so much. That last part is so WEIRD.

Lisa Armsweat said...

Oh man. That sounds rough! I felt a little like crying just reading your post about it.

But then I read the comments and have to agree that someone's mother driving across town to climb through her son's window to cuddle him IS definitely hilarious. Am I alone in thinking an alternate version of this book needs to be written-- in which the son pulls out a gun and shoots the "intruder" and then spends the next 20 years in prison for the murder? The cover could be a man sitting in a jail cell, pulling all the toilet paper apart.

Holly {ArtistMotherTeacher} said...

Fraulein—I still want to know how she managed to put the ladder on top of her car. And where was her husband through all of this?

Cruel Shoes—Oh man, that cover image had me cracking up!

Fantastagirl said...

Ahhh - here the puffs plus...

but I have to agree with Christina - the part where she drives across town, and sneaks into his house- tad bit out there (even for me).

But I've been known to cry at the stupid Folgers/Hallmark etc commercials, so what do I know?

Cupcake Blonde said...

I was crying just at your post description of the book...until I read Christina's comment and then started laughing hysterically. I am going to have to check this book out now and see if I laugh or cry.

Anonymous said...

i always think the crawling into the room is really creepy? and it still makes me cry every time.

Lynda said...

I second Vegas Princess's comment. I was going to say the exact same thing.

Naynayfazz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Naynayfazz said...

I am so glad you all are making jokes about the mom because I was afraid of saying something and sounding insensitive. I can totally do without the mom singing it to her adult son because that is not very realistic. I mean, JQ- if you're reading this, what would you do if your mom woke you up one night and was like, "Honey, get out of bed. Mamma wants to sing to you." Um, she would probably win creepy chick of the year. So anyway, you all made me laugh and I definitely have to check out the book now.

Paticus said...

I must say, my wife and I read this to our twin girls , and we both found it creepy.They received as a Christmas gift from a grab bag at school, and I think the only reason they wanted to read it was because the kid is putting something in the toilet on the cover.
After a few reads we hid it. I just find it weird.

Fraulein N said...

"The cover could be a man sitting in a jail cell, pulling all the toilet paper apart."

Do you realize how funny this is? I actually had to put my hand over my mouth to muffle my laugh, as I am at work.

Brandy said...

He he he. Yes, I have to laugh at the imagery too. It definitely can see a bit off.

That being said, I am a HORRIBLE sap for this book too. I actually found it buried in piles of my dad's junk after he passed away. I opened it to see what it was and of course had to put that sucker right back down. Actually, going through the grief I was at the time I think I must have thrown it away because I'm almost positive I don't have it in my house. Now that I have a son I think I would definitely love to have it to read sometime though. :-)

Anonymous said...

i still cry!! every time i read it. and i've been reading it for 13 years!! sigh

Steelers Wine Girl said...

Okay, while I agree with the creepiness factor of the mom at the end of the book, it still makes me cry every time I read it.

The other one I can't get through is called "The Three Trees"....find and purchase, immediately!