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 the song:
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 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!
The boy 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!
That teenager grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. He got married and started a family of his own and had his own son and daughter.
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 to 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:
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 held her in his arms and very slowly 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.
