I’d Know You Anywhere

I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love
by Nancy Tillman

38846458_429605884212158_5932619840425558016_n

There are things about you quite unlike any other . . .
Things always known by your father or mother.
So if you decide to be different one day,
No worries . . . I’d know you anyway.

The things people throw away! I picked up this book from my library’s rack of discards and donations.  I took a few children’s books that day and left a dollar in the donation box. This one appeared to be worth carrying home just for the paintings, even if the text turned out to be too sappy for my taste.  

38997032_657383294627659_8038618476622905344_n

It isn’t, though.  It’s sweet, beautiful, and exudes love from every page.   

38870718_1049951098505514_1984235042045427712_n

I love that Mom is a splash of red in every scene. She will be easy to spot when she’s needed. Whatever her child decides to be on a given day, she will be watching, sometimes near, sometimes a little further away than might be comfortable for her.  

38878220_227521801282173_6514252532217282560_n

Besides his magical smile or the gleam in his eye, she would recognize her child’s grin, perhaps, or his chinny chin chin.  It might be the sound of his feet, his nose, or even his one-of-a-kind happy dance.

38904768_685689361792698_2408758371315351552_n

With such entrancing paintings, Tillman needs fewer than 350 words to fashion a picture of a mother’s selfless love. This love holds its object close, but can allow wings to stretch when the time is right.