A letter to Joshua

Our youngest son is finishing college classes and moving on to pursue his dreams.  As I bid him farewell:

Graduate,

I watched you from a baby grow,

And oh, how I loved you so,

You started to walk, talk then run,

Growing up was lots of fun,

Then kindergarten, reading and writing,

Fifth, eighth and twelfth grades flashed like lightning,

Next thing I knew, you were taller than me,

But I always knew that you would be,

You were driving a car and commuting to college,

Acquiring good grades and loads of knowledge,

Now the college years are almost through,

You have brand new dreams to pursue,

I’ll miss you dearly as I watch you go,

And oh, I still love you so.

Mom

Tammy Harvey

Written:  April 12, 2017

"Peculiar" people

A silly poem about acceptance:

Strange, Yet wonderful

Strange, yet wonderful, Judy Brown,

Once she worked as a rodeo clown,

Now she’s the librarian of her town,

You’ll never see her wear a frown,

Strange, yet wonderful, Judy Brown,

Strange, yet wonderful, Mabel May,

She rides a unicycle to work each day,

Sometimes juggling as she rides away,

She does what she does, in her own special way,

Strange, yet wonderful Mabel May,

Strange, yet wonderful, Francis Clyde,

She carries a satchel by her side,

Filled with books; her joy and pride,

Her originality she does not hide,

Strange yet wonderful, Francis Clyde,

Strange, yet wonderful, Doris Prat

Walking by with a feather in her hat,

She takes a stroll with her large gray cat,

She wears thick glasses; she’s as blind as a bat,

Strange, yet wonderful, Doris Prat,

“Peculiar” people are judged all the time,

But being different is not a crime,

Accept those who aren’t just like you,

I’m sure you’ve met quite a few,

Like these ladies, everyone is unique,

If uniformity is what you seek,

Then you will miss the spice and flare,

And you may only stop to stare,

Unexpectedly, others can be delightful,

And strange, yet wonderfully insightful!

Tammy Harvey

Written:  2/11/2017

All the peas in the pod are not green.

Oooo, Ggggooo, Coooo

Our nearly 4 month old grandchild is in his cooing phase and we love it!  

Listen Closely

Oooo, Ggggooo, Coooo,

I love baby sounds, don’t you?

The sound of baby’s cooing before he can speak a word,

It is remarkable.  It’s delightful.  It’s quite absurd.

When a baby finds his voice, his thumb or his feet,

It’s a milestone, a victory, a task complete,

A first smile is joyful and so is his sneeze,

When he holds your finger, or rolls over with ease,

He is learning and growing in leaps and bounds,

But, oh, how I love those baby sounds,

OOOOooo, Ggggooo, Coooooo,

It is so innocent and sweet,

Then comes “ma-ma” and “da-da” and your heart skips a beat,

Before you know it, you can’t shut him up,

He is jabbering and babbling and holding a cup,

Listen closely to those cooing days,

Because it won’t last forever, it is only a phase,

He has discovered his voice and it is all so new,

It’s his first attempt at talking to you.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  April 26, 2017

Milk and Cookies

This poem is for my husband who loves to eat chocolate chip cookies with milk.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (& milk)

Big mixing bowl and wooden spoon,

Preheat oven, it’s not too soon,

Flour, sugar, eggs and butter,

Measuring cups, mixer- lots of clutter,

Blend dry ingredients: that’s confection,

Cream eggs and butter, to perfection,

A splash of vanilla, just for flavor,

And chocolate chips, the kind you savor,

Mix it all together well,

Will it taste good? Time will tell,

Smooth and tasty cookie batter,

Lick the spoon, it doesn’t matter,

Drop them neatly on the cookie sheet,

In a few short minutes, they’ll be ready to eat,

Homemade cookies:  warm, gooey chocolate chip,

With a glass of ice-cold milk, you sit and sip.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  2/15/2017

Rat-a-tat-tat Rat-a-tat-tat

The Tin Roof Symphony

Rat-a-tat-tat, Rat-a-tat-tat,

The rain came pouring down just like that!

Like tiny tap shoes, dancing cleverly over my head,

As I lay cozy and warm in my nice soft bed,

The old tin roof played a symphony for me,

As raindrops fell on it so steadily,

Then a crescendo followed as the raindrops grew,

 Thunder rumbled, and the south wind blew,

The percussion section gave a mighty bang,

As the thunderclouds rolled and the windchimes rang,

And the lightning strikes lit up the entire night sky,

I lay awake, and I wondered why,

Why the sound of the rain sounded so good?

On a tin roof, during a dark night in my neighborhood,

As a child, it might have been frightful or scary,

But now it was delightful and made me merry,

Rat-a-tat-tat, Rat-a-tat-tat,

The rain kept falling just like that,

Soothing me slowly back to sleep,

Suddenly I didn’t even hear a peep,

The tin roof symphony had come to an end,

And rainfall on a tin roof was my welcomed friend.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  2/22/2017

Give yourself a Break!

Sometimes we need to take a mental health day:

Mental Vacation

Give yourself a break,

A genuine relaxing, not fake, break,

Just stop, look, listen... take it all in,

Sometimes it feels like your heads in a spin,

So, drop everything... and breathe a deep breath,

Clear your brain... it’s good for your health,

Just take a moment to get a new perspective,

The stress, the urgency... it’s all collective,

Unload your burden for just a bit,

I’m not asking you to quit,

Just stop, look, listen... take it all in,

If you feel like you are in a tailspin,

Relax, rejuvenate, recover and regain...

The strength you have to always maintain,

A resilient regrouping is all that you need,

If you feel you can no longer succeed,

Give yourself a well-deserved break,

A mental vacation is what you must take!

Tammy Harvey

Written:  3/7/2017

God's Plan of Salvation

Good Friday being tomorrow, I thought it was an appropriate time to share my poem about God's son, Jesus Christ.

God’s Son

Go ahead, tell everyone,

Jesus really is God’s son,

Immaculate conception, you must believe,

The Virgin Mary did conceive,

Jesus is God, but fully man,

He came to earth to fulfill His plan,

His Father in Heaven sent Him with resolve,

He knew His fate, our lives to absolve,

He lived on earth for thirty-three years,

He walked, He breathed, and He cried tears,

He lived a life without sin,

The devil tempted Him, but did not win,

He performed miracles; He rose Lazarus from the dead,

He spoke in parables; carefully choosing what He said,

He made disciples, but when others denied Him,

He was accused of blasphemy, and they tried Him,

He could have resisted, but took all the pain,

He suffered and died for all of us to gain,

By dying for us, He was the ultimate sacrifice,

For the sins of the world, He paid the real price,

Taking the sins of the world and atoning them all,

He gave us a gift of salvation, but He took the fall,

Then He sent the Holy Spirit, because the plan wasn’t done,

The Trinity, Father, Son & Spirit, Three in One,

The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, when we ask him in,

We are all sinners, and we all sin, again and again,

But with faith in Jesus, our sins are forgiven,

He extends amazing grace to all of the living,

If we confess and repent sincerely in prayers,

Each day is a new day, new mercies He shares,

The slate is wiped clean, whiter than snow,

God’s Son is Jesus, just thought you should know.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  February 5, 2017

But God demonstrates His own love toward us,

in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8