Bedazzled

Ho*Ho*Ho Juno

Juno is now adorned in a Santa hat, hot pink with white fur,

Bedazzled with rhinestones; it’s a good look for her!

It’s festive and fun; she’s ready for the holiday season,

She a fashionista, after all, so she really needs no reason,

To change her hat at a moment’s notice is her inclination,

She is a trend-setter with a glorious reputation,

If you haven’t met her yet, she’s made her appearance before,

In the past blog posts, you can see what she wore,

She can’t catch snowflakes on her tongue, if she had one,

Or participate in a snowball fight, just to have fun,

She can’t build a snowman or sleigh ride on her own,

And she can’t go on-line shopping on her cellphone,

But she can celebrate the holiday with her fashion declaration,

It’s a hat that soon will be sweeping the nation,

An ordinary red Santa hat just would not do, oh no,

For Juno, who is quite unique, yet very apropos,

She projects her own style; she knows what she wants,

And a rhinestone or two she chooses to flaunt,

I’d say she is ready to be a part of our Christmas décor,

She has so much to offer; Just wait, they’ll be more!

She has become a celebrity in my household for me,

And I share her with you, so she can spread Christmas glee!

Tammy Harvey

Written:  11/15/2019

An Entire Lifetime Together

A Momentous Anniversary

First comes love, then comes marriage,

Then comes someone with a baby carriage,

This is the traditional order of life events in the stereotypical way,

However, life doesn’t always happen accordingly today,

Yet one couple I know has surpassed all marital expectations,

Celebrating their 68^th wedding anniversary is quite a feat for human relations,

My parents in their late eighties are achieving this nearly impossible accomplishment,

On November 16, 1951, the two of them became each other’s compliment,

Young and just out of high school, they married with a swiftness,

On the porch of the preacher’s house, his wife their only witness,

There were no fancy wedding plans, no money for such ceremony,

My Dad sold a cow to pay the preacher for the matrimony,

A honeymoon in Gatlinburg for them was especially grand,

It snowed overnight and soon became a winter wonderland,

Right away my Dad was drafted to serve in the military,

While my mother,left behind,mailed him a letter daily,

For nearly 2 years my Dad had active duty in the Korean war,

He experienced tragedy he’d never seen before,

To get back home safe and sound was the ultimate plan,

By the grace of God, he returned and their life together began,

My grandfather built a small house for them on the corner of his land,

But It was seven years later before their family would expand,

My sister was born on the fourth of July in 1958,

Then only eighteen months later, I was born; I guess I couldn’t wait!

Anyway, this is how John and Julia became a family of four,

Then they moved to Knoxville and weren’t country folks anymore,

They owned and operated their businesses with plenty of success,

Until retirement, when they finally took a needed rest,

They’ve enjoyed life living in an A-frame on the lake since then,

And reminisce about the old times ‘cause they’d do it all again,

Sixty-eight years is an entire lifetime together,

They've survived it through all kinds of weather!

Congratulations to you both! With love,

Wishing you abundant blessings from God above.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  11/13/2019

He was a Doer

Proverbs was Jerry's favorite book of the Bible.  I thought it fitting to include a verse from Proverbs concerning work.  There was no one else I know that worked as hard as he did in his short lifetime. He had high hopes, like the Frank Sinatra song about the rubber tree plant:

Work Ethic of an Ant

He was a doer, a worker bee,

With the strength of a mighty oak tree,

Having deep roots into family and friend:

He, being the one on whom everyone would depend,

He had the determination of a carpenter ant,

The one that moved the rubber tree plant,

He was driven, with a work ethic that was unsurpassed,

He was giving of his time and talents to help with any tasks,

He was a dreamer, aspiring to have adventuresome quests:

Those were the dreams that he loved best:

To buy a retired fire engine and take the bucket truck up high,

To fly in an experimental airplane around the SC sky,

To drive a horse trailer from up north to the Raleigh fairgrounds,

To zip-line over the rain forest in Costa Rica…upside down!

To visit the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil,

To catch Northern Pike in the Vermillion River, so surreal,

To ride motorcycles and jet skis at high rates of speed,

To drive an 18-wheeler for FedEx, his expectations to exceed,

To camp in the Great Smokey mountains annually for nearly 40 years,

We remember him fondly, as we fight back our tears,

He did all these and so much more,

But time was short for what God had in store,

He was a loving father to three amazing men,

Who stepped up tremendously when he needed them,

He always inspired others even when he was ill,

Always referring to what he thought was God’s will,

And a husband of 33 years, a brother, a mentor, a son,

An uncle, a neighbor, a friend to everyone,

He had a bucket list that was lengthy and wild,

He was excitable by simple things like a small child,

To go out west and herd cattle on a dude ranch,

Was something he would have done, given the chance,

He wanted to navigate the east coast in his own sailboat,

A free spirit, he loved the daring and remote,

To hike the entire Appalachian trail, was something he wanted to do,

And he probably would have done it, but the days he had were few,

An excellent employee, he did not allow himself much leisure,

A problem solver, a do-it-yourself-er, a real people-pleaser,

He was an energizer bunny with enthusiasm to match,

He loved chocolate chip cookies and could eat the entire batch,

He had a beaming smile that was contagious,

And bright blue eyes that were outrageous,

He did not shy away from any type of chore,

Jerry Harvey, We love you every day, even more!

Tammy Harvey

Written:  10/27/2019

Proverbs 6:6-8 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.  Learn from their ways and become wise!  Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

Tough Decision

Farewell Jada

Her quality of life severely declined; she no longer was keen,

In just a few weeks, she would have celebrated her sweet sixteen,

Our dog Jada, ate and slept, then ate and slept more,

And when she slept, she would gently snore,

In her early days, she would give squirrels a chase,

And at the lake, dig a hole in the sand at a rapid pace,

She rode jet skis with her ears flopping in the wind,

She was mischievously disobedient, but a loyal friend,

Her bark was irritatingly loud, but far much worse than her bite,

She was a black wiener dog with a stubborn might,

Long bodied, but short and stubby legged,

She often sat under the table and tirelessly begged,

If anyone sat on the couch to watch tv or nap,

She could be found lounging up in their lap,

But recently her body and mind were failing,

We knew she was struggling and physically ailing,

I made a decision I’d never made before,

I took her to be euthanized; she suffered no more,

It was incredibly peaceful, and she was at rest,

And I had to believe the decision was best,

As I left the vet office with an empty leash in my hand,

I felt she was with Jerry and their time would be grand,

It’s never easy to decide a dog’s fate in this way,

But on Aug 30, we said farewell to Jada Kay.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  11/3/2019

Comfort Zone

Have you ever noticed how everyone desires the front row at a theater or ballgame, but the back row at church or in school?

Front Row Seat

I, being vertically challenged*, always chose to sit front row in a classroom,

(Those seats were always available, not the choice seats, I presume),

Otherwise, I couldn’t see and sometime couldn’t hear what was being taught,

I listened well and fervently took notes into the notebook that I brought,

Then one American History class in high school changed my whole perspective,

We were seated alphabetically, by last name; how rudely ineffective!

For the first time in my life, I was seated in the back,

It seemed miles away from the teacher; I was completely off-track,

It was necessary to copy the lesson from the chalkboard, but alas,

I could not read a word of it, like the others in my class,

I looked around and everyone was writing so intently,

 “You can see that?” I whispered, tapping a girl’s shoulder gently,

To me it all seemed out of focus and totally unclear,

Was I losing my eyesight? …  that was my fear!

Well, my eyesight was poor; I was near-sighted, in fact,

And I had to get glasses when I moved to the back,

I would not have known that based on my choice of seat,

But I still prefer the front, it makes my experience complete,

I don’t have to look past big heads that are tall,

Or get distracted for no reason at all,

Sitting in the front row may seem really lame,

But I like it there; it’s my comfort zone, just the same.

Tammy Harvey

10/6/2019

Day-by- Day

This poem is dedicated to a friend of mine who recently went to rehab and is currently 45+ days sober.

Someone once defined success to me as “Doing more than you need to, before you are asked to, not because you have to, but because you want to”.

Success

What does it mean to be successful?

Is it a sense of pride that makes your breast full?

Is it money, power or fame?

Is it winning the championship game?

Success may mean different things to everyone,

But to me it is an accomplishment, an effort that is done,

To the completion of a goal,

A testament to the tenacity of your soul,

It may be small and insignificant to those looking from the outside in,

While it is enormously gratifying to your heart within,

Anytime you triumph over an obstacle in your way,

It is a success- when you learn to overcome, it’s a brand-new day,

Success does not always correlate with becoming prosperous or wealthy,

It can be putting one foot in front of the other, keeping yourself healthy,

As healthy as you can, under your control,

Success is day-by-day, to achieve the ultimate goal,

If you struggle with alcoholism and rehabilitation is your aim,

Or any other addiction that I could readily name,

The first step is the biggest, but take that one step,

Then another and another- it’s okay to ask for help,

Success begins with a mindset, a determination to succeed,

If you really want to succeed, nothing else can ever impede,

Encouragement and support from others, of course, is a huge part,

But the decision to succeed is yours from the very start.

You can do it! You know who you are,

I am counting on you to go really far!

Tammy Harvey

Written:  10/6/2019

Transformation

The True Transformer

Remember the toys your kids had or maybe your brother?

The ones that could change from one thing to another,

A flip, a twist or turn, moving parts near and far,

Caused a toy that once was a robot to become a car,

They were called transformers and were literally two-in-one,

Intriguing, complex, but most of all, just fun,

How can something transform into something else?

And who is the transformer that is the very best?

God is the true Transformer; that is for certain,

He takes us and transforms us into a new person,

The old is gone though, never to return,

Unlike the toy, we transform, but the lesson is stern:

We don’t go back, like a two-in-one; we remain transformed,

Romans 12:2 warns us not to the world be conformed,

But be transformed by the renewing of our mind,

Then a discerning of God’s will, we will find,

God, the true Transformer; His will is perfect,

Seek God’s will and pray for wisdom to detect it,

The plans He has made for us through transformation,

Are often an amazing revelation!

Tammy Harvey

Written:  9/6/2019