So Much, So Much: For a Mother, a Son Is an Eternal Unrequited Love

This is a picture book by Shinsuke Yoshitake, who has won numerous picture book awards for 'It Might Be an Apple'.
At first, while reading it at the bookstore (standing there, that is),
it was hard to stop my tears.
I bought it immediately and read it slowly at home.
Since it is a picture book, it has few words and can be read quickly, but I couldn't stop crying; the ultimate affection between a mother and son struck a chord in my heart.

The characters are just a mother and son (later, a daughter-in-law and grandchild appear), and the fact that the father and other siblings are not visible emphasizes their world of just the two of them.
Whether this happened due to various circumstances, the illustrations beyond the text allow the reader's imagination to expand.
Because it is a picture book, my grandchild asked me to 'read it,' so I read it aloud, but this book has deep parts that only adults can understand.
In particular, it chronicles the trajectory of a mother with a son, along with the passage of time.

'He was so small,'
'Now he is like this.'
I cry every time I reach this page, and I wonder if I haven't been able to let go of my child, even though it's my own situation.
No, no, just as my husband and I did, I am relieved that my son is now building his own warm family.

However, no matter how old he gets, a son is an eternal unrequited love for a mother.
(Of course, a daughter is also a precious existence.)
I cherished and kept him warm in my womb, gave birth to him,
raised him with love, encouraged him to live on his own two feet, and before I knew it, I was in a position to be lectured by him.
That, too, is a joy.

The world has become very convenient.
It has also developed (though problems have emerged along with that).
Things that have existed since the primitive era—parent-child love and the connection between human hearts and animals—are immutable.

The detailed psychological descriptions, backgrounds, and intersecting scenes of long novels also expand a wonderful world.
'So Much, So Much' is a picture book with few words, but this world chronicles the long life of a mother (though I can hear a voice saying, 'Don't forget the father, too').
I want to live my life cherishing this immutable love, not limited to just my son.