Love you forever

When Joseph was little I bought a book for him "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. I bought it because Joey in Friends read to baby Emma on her birthday and made everyone cry and I figured it must be good.
When I read the book I really, truly found it an emotional rollercoaster and while it is a gentle, beautiful story it makes me well up.
Today, while compiling a list of toddler classics for our Foyle News publication, I thought on the book and remembered it.
Reading it again, and now from a position where my beloved granny has Alzheimers and no longer recognises or remembers me, or indeed her own children, it was so very emotional.

The text of the book is as follows- so granny, I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my granny you'll be."
xxx

A mother held her new baby and
very slowly rocked him back and forth,
back and forth,
back and forth.A
nd 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 ofthe 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 his song: I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby 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 rockedher 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.