Walking on Sunshine with YOU

 

Walking on Sunshine with You

You’re walking on sunshine,

You’re already on cloud nine,

The sky is a true blue,

The clouds have a warm hue,

The atmosphere is cheerful,

But I’m feeling tearful,

I want to hold your hand,

And walk through the heavenly land,

How are you so far away, yet always near?

Memories will fade, I fear,

You’re walking on sunshine,

I know you are doing really fine,

I hope to join you there,

A place with no worries to bear,

I want to walk on sunshine with you,

It must be an incredible view,

Save me a place where time stands still,

Then we will walk on sunshine together, we will.

Tammy Harvey

7/2/2026

Typing Evolution

 

Typing Evolution

I own a 1950’s typewriter inherited from my parent,

It has stiff keys, an ink ribbon with a manual bar to advance it,

A Smith-Corona, heavy as lead, it was considered very fine,

But in the 1980’s, an electric typewriter was all mine,

I used it to type cover-letters, searching for employment,

The process was cumbersome and I did not enjoy it,

Although it was a lot faster, white correcting tape was essential,

Stop, correct, continue on; the process had potential,

But little did we know what advances would arrive,

Sometimes I even wonder now, how did we survive?

From typewriters to keyboards, the leap was exponential!

Laptops that go anywhere; it was quite consequential,

Typing classes became keyboarding, taught in all our schools,

New keys like Alt, Ctrl and Esc were not made for fools,

Correction on a screen is simple: backspace and delete,

Auto-correction and voice recognition made it more complete,

I can’t imagine typing on an old manual machine,

It was so rudimentary and now it is extreme!

Kids today would not believe the effort that it took,

Just to type a simple letter, an envelope, or a book!

Tammy Harvey

6/22/2026

Ring the Bell

 

Ring the Bell

When a patient finishes a round of radiation treatment, there is a tradition that is carried out.  The patient is allowed to ring a large brass bell hanging on the wall in the waiting room.  They have passed by that bell many times on their way to the treatment room. It gives them something to look forward to.   It symbolizes the end of a journey.  I recently was privileged last week to watch my friend ring that glorious shiny bell, and it wasn’t her first rodeo.  The sound was deep and resounding.  It was sweet, yet bittersweet.  The fact that someone has to have radiation at all is not joyful, yet the end of the treatment itself is a joyous time.  With no certainty that the patient won’t have to return again for the same treatment in the future, it still is a mark of accomplishment.  It signifies another hurdle has been cleared in the race against the dreadful cancer cells.  My brother-in-law will also be ringing a similar bell in his place of treatment on Monday as he completes a series of 24 proton radiation treatments.

 Everyday many people are ringing a victory bell.  It is a victory, however, just to survive a stage 4 diagnosis with determination to endure the ever-present disease.  A disease that evades the researchers for cures and mutates into other monstrosities to avoid the current treatments.  The number of lives affected by cancer, whether patients, caregivers, friends and family members or children, is astounding.  I am constantly in awe of the warriors, alive and deceased, who never give/gave up. They tolerate the side effects of toxic drugs, surgeries and procedures, constant pain, radiation, chemotherapy, physical therapy, never-ending doctor appointments, a port, blood draws, numerous scans, and setbacks.  They deserve to ring a brass bell and a whole lot more!

Tammy Harvey

7/10/2026

Summer

 

Summer

As spring slowly surrendered to summer,

It carried with it a sense of slumber,

We counted down the days until school was out,

On the final day, we exited with a celebratory shout!

Sleeping late with no homework and swimming in the pool,

Riding bikes, skipping rocks and never lamenting school,

As children, we ran barefooted, footloose and fancy-free,

Drinking from the water hose and climbing in tall trees,

Going fishing, collecting rocks and creating paint-by-number,

Playing freeze tag, getting tan, nothing would encumber,

Outside, in the dark, we looked up at the stars,

Chasing fireflies tirelessly and putting them in our jars,

Looking for four-leafed clovers, lying face down in the grass,

We sat quietly among the moss and sticks and began to remember our class,

Then we longed to see our classmates as summer drew to a close,

Desires of our heart had changed, with the season, I suppose,

You can’t have your cake and eat it too, as “they” always say,

I never understood what that saying meant anyway!

Counting down the days until our new school year began,

Excited to see everyone together once again,

We returned to school in the fall without much hesitation,

Yet summer had provided a fun-filled time of recreation.

Tammy Harvey  4/27/2026