Ted's Poem

For Christmas I received a gift of StoryWorth from Ted and Cassie. This is a series of weekly questions asked of me about my youth, that will be printed into a book at the end of the year. It is like a legacy book to hand down to future generations. One of the first questions I received was "How would you describe your mother?" Ted decided to also answer that question in the form of a poem for me.



How Would You Describe your Mother?

I have been giving it some thought, and I really must say,
The question “how would you describe your mother?’, is difficult in a meaningful way,
What is the best way to describe her? I am up for the task,
A poem, of course, so read it and grasp,
My mom is loving, caring, compassionate and clever,
She is short in stature but not in her giving nature,
She can be stressed and anxious but those come in spells,
She writes wonderful poems from jokes to deep wells,
She was a preschool teacher for over a decade,
Worked at a flower shop and as a mom, hardly paid,
The number three rings loudly in her life,
Three boys each three years apart with not much strife,
We rarely fought and played all the sports ever created,
Mom was there to cheer us on, we were elated,
We pick at her as she ages for comfort she gave-up,
Beware arthritis in her thumbs and knees could easily flare up,
Crafting and gardening are close to her heart,
She would be the first to tell you not to trust a fart,
I believe watching her children and grandchildren grow brings her great pleasure,
A fan of the arts, thrift stores and finding shark tooth treasure,
A true Tennessee girl I would say,
A fan of the Vols, even sporting orange some days,
She gets along with her older sister, but they are very different,
Loves her parents and God: it is magnificent,
Losing her husband (my dad) to brain cancer after 30+ years of marriage
Has been hard,
We have grieved and gotten closer as a family, but the wound has not easily scarred,
My mom is resilient, brave and fun to be around,
She tap dances, spins clay, but cannot juggle like a clown,
She likes getting phone calls from her children like her own mother,
As one of her kids, I always tell her I love her,
People say we look alike, and it always made me shake my head,
But now when I hear it, I hope it is on the inside, the character she threads,
As she turns a page and starts a new chapter,
Her family can smile and continue to fell looked after,
I’m not as talented with words on a page like the great Tammy Harvey,
But hopefully, this gives you a glimpse of how wonder she is, let’s party!

Written by: Theodore Harvey (middle son), December 29, 2022