His Birth Story

 

Love and Good Cheer

When crusted snow crunches under the weight of my boots,

And little kids are bundled in thick, round snowsuits,

Icicles have formed on the eaves of our house,

And no sound is heard, not even a mouse,

A blanket of white covers everything,

And colorful lights glow, as carolers sing,

Winter is here, and the fire crackles loudly,

Neighborhoods display their decorations so proudly,

The smell of pine is filling the space,

As to the gifts, the young ones will race,

It is a magical time of year, that’s right,

The holly, the jolly, the merry and bright,

When people are called to reflect on their year,

With hope and joy, because the message is clear:

Long, long ago, as a star announced His birth,

A miraculous gift was sent to the earth,

Jesus was born and to Him be the glory,

Because Christmas is all about His birth story,

The wisemen were called to bring special gifts to this One,

Because He was declared to be God’s son,

Merry Christmas to you, and a Happy New Year,

May yours be filled with Love and Good Cheer.

Tammy Harvey

12/21/2023

Baby's First Christmas

 

Nellie Rae

Baby-blue-eyed baby girl,

You are your parents’ whole world,

Your toothless smile will light the room,

You are a beautiful flower in bloom,

Your eyes sparkle like the stars on high,

And you seldom get upset and cry,

You sleep like an angel on a bed of clouds,

And oh, the joy it brings when you laugh out loud,

Your chubby thighs are so round and sweet,

And don’t get me started on those little toes and feet,

You are learning to roll, to sit, to play,

You are growing up each and every day,

Soon you will crawl and walk, then run,

With you we are having so much fun!

Your first Christmas is coming soon,

We love you to the moon! (and back)

Tammy Harvey

11/24/2023

Eternity

 

Eternity

May I ride the wave of discovery,

To the crystal shores of tomorrow,

Where a gemstone beach is glistening,

And the sparkle is so radiantly bright,

The golden paths lead through the emerald grass,

And the trees are dripping with diamonds,

May I know the endless peace that is only in heaven,

As I walk through the valley of death,

Love like no other will surround me,

Angels will be singing praises on high,

I will discover the world was only a second,

As I live in the presence of God,

An eternity of bliss, no sorrow, no tears,

For this I should have no more fears,

Looking forward to my forever with hope,

As I work on this earth as a servant,

To live is to die, and to die is to gain,

For this I am thankful and blessed.

Tammy Harvey

11/26/2023

The Dreaded "C-Word"

 

Cancer Journey

The dreaded C-word,

It’ll never happen to me-word,

It comes without warning to get its prey,

It devours unknowing victims each and every day,

So why am I so shocked to learn,

That it has now become my turn?

Why am I so precocious,

When the C-word is now my diagnosis?

Silently dwelling, stealthily growing,

All this time without me even knowing,

There is a definite time of disbelief,

Followed by a helplessness time of grief,

Waiting for the pathology report to reveal,

The extent of the invasion is a really big deal,

It takes patience and trust, and hope to endure,

Anticipated treatment that is loomingly unsure,

I am blessed to find that my cancer was contained,

The joy of this news is not easily explained,

This is how it all began,

(Be your own advocate, like me, if you can),

I felt a sore spot on my breast while taking a shower,

Each time I shrugged it off, it was not within my power,

To assume anything, as my February mammogram had been clear,  (Feb 4)

But as time passed, it persisted and so did my fear,

In August, I went to my primary care, (Aug 17)

I needed to make my doctor aware,

The breast exam he did gave him no concern,

But he sent me for a diagnostic mammogram to discern,

Images of the diagnostic mammogram showed nothing unusual,

An ultrasound was performed to prove I wasn’t delusional, (Aug 25)

Finally, the ultrasound showed the cause of my pain,

A biopsy was suggested to try to explain, (Aug 29)

What looked to the expert as something benign,

A mass, but of no concern; I was led to think I was fine,

I waited a week before pathology confirmed,

What no one had suggested, yet cancer was affirmed, (Sept 1)

The dreaded C-word: It’ll never happen to me-word,

A breast surgeon was referred, and I went on my way,

Waiting two more weeks for an appointment to say,

We need to take out this mass and do radiation treatment, (Sept 18)

Not knowing what type of cancer, as the biopsy was indeterminate,

Outpatient surgery was scheduled, and another waiting period ensued,

Lymph nodes would be taken since the cancer type was misconstrued,

Surgery, yes, I had two,

But before, a special marker at the mass’ location was needed,

Using mammographic imagery, a radioactive wire was seeded, (Sept 25)

First a lumpectomy/lymph node surgery, but who knew? (Sept 27)

The margins were not clear, so another decision was due, (Oct 8)

The lymph nodes were negative which was excellent news,

The next step in treatment was for me to choose,

I chose to have a mastectomy, removing my left breast,

Without reconstruction, I thought that was best,

Only three weeks had passed, but back to surgery I went,

Outpatient surgery at 7:00, and home at 11:00, I was sent, (Oct 17)

Another pathology report was another week away,

Pathology was good and no further treatment was expected, (Oct 30)

But an appointment with oncology was necessary with all data collected,

November 10 was a very memorable day, (Nov 10)

I met with an excellent Duke oncologist, who had a wonderful way,

Of letting me know that chemo and radiation were not required,

When my incision healed completely, my cancer journey was expired.

One in eight women will be faced with breast cancer, as I was,

It will rock their world, as it always does,

Some journeys will be much worse than mine,

Some will be fatal, that’s the bottom line,

My cancer was mammography occult,

If I had waited, it would have been a different result,

Mammography resolution is only so good,

Do regular breast exams, as you should,

Catching the C-word early is the key,

To survive the dreaded letter “C”.

The dreaded C-word:  It’ll never happen to me-word.

That’s what I thought,

But now the C-word I have fought!

I was blessed and am so very thankful too,

But I am now concerned for you.

Tammy Harvey

12/1/2023

Pesky Rabbits

 

That Pesky Rabbit

With crisp, clean cuts like a gardening tool,

This rabbit has taken me for a fool,

He has snuck into my garden while I’m away,

And eaten all my flowering plants today,

I didn’t actually catch him in the act,

But I recognize his poop and, in fact,

There are probably more than one of them,

Having a buffet on all the delicious stems,

But alas, Elmer Fudd and I won’t be had,

I have a plan and it is ironclad,

I have put up a screen, nice and tight,

Along my fence, where they sneak at night,

I dare them to try and feast again,

I trust they won’t be able to get in,

I take great pride in my flower beds,

And don’t want to find my plants in shreds,

These bunnies may be cute, floppy ears and such,

But in this instance, I don’t like them very much,

Stay out of my garden you pesky rabbit,

Find a different place to inhabit!

Tammy Harvey

11/21/2023

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Give Thanks

Sun shines bright on a colorful fall day,

There is thankfulness and joy in the air today,

So much to be thankful for, family and friends,

Sometimes I wish this day never ends,

A cornucopia of delicious food on the table,

Thankful for our health and that we are able,

To join together and truly celebrate,

All that we have been blessed with to date,

The Macy’s parade, a must-see while we cook,

Scurrying around the kitchen, but taking a look,

Remembering my grandmother in her apron of old,

Wiping her hands on the front, and the pie crust she rolled,

Afterwards, when bellies are full and the slumber sets in,

While cheering our favorite football team to win,

We doze off sitting up on the couch or recliner,

Thanksgiving Day, nothing could be finer!

Tammy Harvey

11/23/2023

Reflections of Home

 My eldest son Thomas wrote this story after I put his childhood home on the market while downsizing into my new life as a widow. 

Thomas’ Essay

There’s a 'FOR SALE' sign just steps away from where my dad fingered our family surname in the wet concrete below the curb when it was poured three decades ago. Burnished by hurricanes Fran and Floyd, two feet of snow in Y2K and thirty years of seasons, the letters once etched deep are now well-worn hieroglyphs, faded like the memories made in my boyhood home.
Its occupants, once five, vacated in a slow but natural forward march until only the matriarch came to hold the fort. Her three boys became men, fledged and left her an empty nester before cancer left her a widow. Alone with her thoughts in a place once so full of life, the stark emptiness only served to amplify her losses. A home without family turns back to a house, the studs a skeleton of what once was.
But despite its hollowness, the house does have solid bones - besides the metatarsal (mine) and ulna (my brother’s) fractured sometime in the early 2000s. Perched atop a slope, the steep driveway will likely frighten potential buyers who simply lack imagination and vision. If they were to ask, I would tell them that the driveway is the ideal runway for crude wooden ramps hobbled together by small hands from scrap plywood, two-by-fours and remnant bricks. And that not too long-ago wheels, in pairs of twos and fours, rolled from the top of the incline, their riders descending with the reckless abandon and ignorance afforded only by youthful naivety. Speed led to blood, scabs and scars in a time well before helmets and pads softened our spirit.
Once concealed by towering evergreen trees that finally succumbed to disease, the train track that borders the property’s rear is sure to be another red flag to interested parties. However, had they only experienced the thrill – half fear, half frenzy – of running down and stealing the red safety flag that once flew from the caboose of the slow-moving CSX freight train on its daily run like a western outlaw maybe they would think different. Or had they placed a penny on the flat rail and cheered as the locomotive pancaked the soft zinc coated copper into collectable oval trinkets. Or if they would have learned to decipher curse words from the vivid graffiti on the rail cars or convinced the conductor to sound the horn simply by motioning their right arm… then, maybe they would realize they were on the right side of the tracks.
The house, like the flawed family that lived in it for so many years, is not perfect. The new owners will find the need to update and upgrade cosmetic or otherwise. While doing so they will surely stumble upon my father’s signature and a date written carefully on the nearest piece of drywall, stud or flat surface; the hidden graphite autograph a time capsule to the bygone days I now cherish. It is my hope the new owners will appreciate the pride my father took in maintaining his home; blood, sweat and tears – the home has them all and all for different reasons.
It is my hope that the new owners of my childhood home will see it for what it is, what our family made it. A place for discovery, growth and maturity. A safe haven for imagination and make-believe. A shelter with a foundation strong enough to withstand the storms of hurricanes, three adolescent boys and the stresses of life and death. Mostly, I hope when the new owners get their mail, they’ll notice the faint lettering in the concrete just beneath the box and remember the folk that left the roots of their family tree tangled amidst the front yard’s towering oaks, buried deep in the red Carolina clay.
written by:  Thomas Harvey 

9/14/2021