Most Loved in All The World

Most Loved in All The World

Picture book
"Mama works hard in the field.
My hands are too little. My job is to bring water.
Mama's hands are bleeding 'cause she pick so much cotton.
I'm too little, but I wish I could help."
Even after long days in the field, even on days she's bleeding
from being whipped, the Mama in Tonya Cherie Hegamin's Most Loved in
All The World (set in American slavery times) stitches by firelight,
working on a very special quilt. It isn't for the Big House. It
isn't for Massa to sell.
The child narrator wonders about the quilt, especially about a
carefully crafted little girl with a smiling embroidered face. Mama
tells her the quilt child "is the most loved in all the world."
One night mother and child tiptoe out of their cabin to go to a
meeting. Mama wants more for her precious child than the existence
she endures. The quilt is the gift she gives her when she sends her
off to freedom.
This is a book to share, only not with really little kids. It
can lead to conversations about the harsh realities of slavery, not
only in the past, but sadly in today's world.
On a purrrsonal note, I'm about to go to my older daughter, Amber's
bridal shower. Of course I am happy that she's marrying her best
friend. But mostly I'm nervous. The shower and wedding will be much
more formal than mine were. I have no mother of the bride script.
It's all going to be photographed and put on social media. Usually I
have no qualms about either. Yesterday I was filmed dancing to soul
music and volunteering in Black Bear Exchange in an apron and about
the ugliest hair net ever invented. But I don't know if my dress and
hair are OK. I don't want to ruin everything. Eugene is lucky. He
can show up in jeans, shirt, and work boots.
But as I typed this review into my iPod I realized how
privileged I am to have these concerns. I can't imagine what it would
be like to know that the only way to give your beloved daughter more
than your own nightmare existence is to never see her again. This is
not a relic of the past. In today's world too many people are still
in this no win situation.
A great big shout out goes out to Amber and her beloved fiancée, Brian.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod