To Ayla & Anson... Love, Daddy

Today I was shopping and I saw this beautifully illustrated children's book. I picked it up to look at it and I started reading and I started crying. It's words are perfect: as if Tim wrote it for the babies.

The book is Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman. The version I bought has dolphins on the cover. One adult dolphin (Tim) and 2 baby dolphins behind him.

I bought it so that I can read it to Anson & Ayla as they grow to help them understand how much their Daddy loves them. This is what it says:


"I wanted you more than you ever will know, so I sent love to follow wherever you go. 
It's high as you'll wish it. It's quick as an elf. You'll never outgrow it.... it stretches itself! 
Make a big splash! Go out on a limb! My love will find you. My love can swim! 
It never gets lost, never fades, never ends....
if you're working....
or playing....
or sitting with friends. 
You can dance til you're dizzy...
paint til you're blue...
There's no place, not one, that my love can't find you. 
And if someday you're lonely, or someday you're sad, or you strike out at baseball, or think you've been bad...
just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair. That's me, my sweet baby, my love is right there. 
In the green of the grass... in the smell of the sea... in the clouds floating by... at the top of a tree... in the sound crickets make at the end of the day... "You are loved, you are loved, you are loved, " they all say. 
My love is so high, so wide and so deep, it's always right there, even when you're asleep. 
So hold your head high and don't be afraid to march to the front of your own parade. 
If you're still my small babe or you're all the way grown, my promise to you is you're never alone. 
You are my angel, my darling, my star... and my love will find you, wherever you are."