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Tag: love
Ten Things of Thankful 1-26-2026
My mother Thelma Laverne Hall Tomey in 1977 and my sister Paula Annette Tomey Allen holding a painting by my niece Kayla Doiron Wygal
It’s TTOT time and it would be unforgivable to myself to skip past this month. It’s a month of months and especially special to me as it’s my mother’s birthday month. Although she crossed over several long years ago, she lives in my heart every single day. It is also the month that my sister crossed over too soon. It is most fitting to place them side by side in this image window.
My sister, being four years my senior, took it to her responsibility to mother me, especially after mom passed away. Paula and I were always close, even when we weren’t, and loved each other as sisters do. Mom taught me about the life of a kind, sensitive soul who always put others before herself. She didn’t do so with words, although her storytelling was to be admired, especially the humorous stories, she moreso did this with examples. There were times, especially later in her life, when mom would have been crying over someone she was concerend about. We would talk it over and connect with the tenderness she held in her heart. I am most grateful for both of these women and wish I could sit with them. To be honest, though, I have talked to both of them since they have gone – not face to face, by spirit to spirit. When alone, my words may slip from my mouth. It’s my time to share with them and I hold it as precious. I do this with others, as well, but these two are my focus today.
Mom always like the colors of green and gold. She’s wearing a gold dress in this photo which means she was going somewhere special. It was likely that she was going out dancing with daddy. They danced often and were reminiscent of famous ballroom dancers. Daddy always said that it was mom who took the prize for dancing and he followed her lead. I am grateful that we got to go dancing with them, espcially at the NCO club on family dinner night. I did not inherit these ballroom dancing skills, but could cut a pretty good, fast dance rug. How I wish mom would have been a cancer survivor and lived longer. I am grateful for the time we had and to be able to be present.
The striped dress meant I was going to the NCO club with my siblings and parents. The shorts picture was when I was about 13 and goofing around dancing in the living room. I am pretty sure that my sister was taking the picture and likely dancing with me. The what would have been me in a red dress that belonged to my sister, was my first Valentine’s dance in 7th grade. I had a computer selected date from a fund raising event at the junior high. While I was matched and was supposed to meet him at the dance, he showed up with his own date. While I didn’t like the idea, I was relieved. I danced up a storm, so to speak, taking over the dance floor in the twist contest. I suppose that I learned early in life, that dancing it off was the way to go. I am grateful for the attitude that saved my embarrassment. Fun fact: My sister styled my hair and put makeup on me. We dyed her red dress to make it even more red. From vigorous dancing, I came home with red on the white blouse, under my arms. Another event to laugh off.
November 2013 Paula and Lisa at the hair salon. We had to get a picture with our fresh dos. It was a couple of years later when we would last see each other. I am grateful that we had this time together. Although we had the cancer challenge (she never wanted it called a battle but a belief that cancer would take a flight away) it did mean spending time together we may not otherwise have had. The cancer did go away. And I am grateful for the time we had.
That’s what I have for TTOT time this week. Blessings and Peace to you all.
Just a side note: This is Cancer Talk Week
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“Unsung Canaan Ballads” Coming Soon
Unsung Canaan Ballads is a poetry collection by Chyrel J. Jackson of culture, honesty, family, history, emotion, resilience, and literary excellence. It’s a love letter to Black people living in an imperfect and whitewashed world. This compilation celebrates the poetically lyrical sisterhood, Black poets, and Black writers. There is something for the grieving soul. Words of encouragement for the sad or hurting soul. Healing for the lost and seeking soul. During loss sometimes we fight to hold on to ourselves. This compilation of poems is healing for the brokenhearted. It reminds us that healing takes time. No one can orchestrate life events. Eventually wholeness and happiness is found through simple things. Music, art, books, nature, poetry, and family. It’s time to grab your favorite beverage and nestle into what feels like a little bit of home, Unsung Canaan Ballads.
Learn More and Order at: https://www.prolificpulse.com/chyreljjackson
Poet Talk with Rebecca N. Herz
We had a lovely talk about so many things. Poetry, therapy work, art, baby love, and more. Check out this interview on YouTube or Spotify or anywhere podcasts are offered.
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Locus of Control by Rebecca Herz is Now Available
Straight from the author, Rebecca Herz: “Locus of Control is a poetry collection written to make sense of a rapidly shifting world. In these poems, I trace the contours of neurodivergence, new motherhood, queer identity, and my work as a middle-school crisis counselor, weaving together the clinical language of therapy with the raw emotional undercurrent that rarely makes it into the office.
Across themes like countertransference, imposter syndrome, burnout, co-regulation, radical acceptance, and the intimate bewilderment of pregnancy through IVF, these poems explore what it means to hold hope for others while learning to hold it for myself.
In writing Locus of Control, poetry became the place where I could confess my uncertainty, and acknowledge the spiritual questions that trail my work: What does it mean to witness another person’s pain? What is the cost of caretaking? Where is the line between healing and harm? What remains of the self when we spend our days giving ourselves away?
At the same time, the personal and political never stay separate-fertility treatments alongside news alerts of disaster, Jewish identity intersecting with queer family-making, motherhood emerging through statistics, ultrasound screens, and wishful thinking.
Above all, Locus of Control is an invitation to find resonance within the ambiguity. These poems don’t attempt to fix or advise. They sit with uncertainty, and trust the reader to find themselves within the space that remains.
All proceeds support Jewish Queer Youth (JQY), honoring the young people who inspire my work and my belief that healing is possible, even when the path is nonlinear.”
Rebecca (N.) Herz is the author of Locus of Control (2026) and Homecoming and other poems (2023), Prolific Pulse LLC. Her publications include Spillwords, Social Justice Inks, Sinister Wisdom, The Madrigal, Fine Lines, and The Last Leaves. You can find her on Medium and Instagram @rebeccaherzpoet
What others have to say:
In Locus of Control, Rebecca Herz celebrates empathy in the poem “Radical Acceptance,” a rallying cry for making peace with the unknown. From chance encounters, daily interactions, and familial bonds, like becoming a parent, Locus of Control deftly explores society, from the good, the bad, the ugly, and all that is left unsaid, unanswered, or lost. Strikingly, these lost pieces are found in vivid language and a baby’s first touch, finding the silver lining, even if you don’t know the answer, because Locus of Control is about relishing in the centre of gravity despite blips and questions.
Lindsay Soberano Wilson, Poet and Author of Hoods of Motherhood and Breaking Up With the Cobalt Blues: Poems for Healing
In this new collection, Herz’s craft proves worthy of her ambitious aesthetic–that of blending opposites, of intertwining the philosophical and the ordinary. In similar fashion, her poetic voice rings with both confidence and vulnerability. I find the poems that track her speaker’s work as a school therapist–backlit by her own earlier struggles as a student–especially compelling.
Yehoshua November, Author of The Concealment of Endless Light
Locus of Control by Rebecca Herz is a witty melange of poetry and therapeutic insight. Rebecca Herz, a school-based therapist and autistic writer, weaves together personal experience, emotional depth, and psychological concepts to explore love, loss, neurodivergence, and healing. Rebecca’s poems celebrate variegated threads of human life- fertility struggles and burnout to self-compassion and radical acceptance. These poems illuminate what it means to be human in a world shaped by longing and resilience. It is a tender, intelligent, and restorative collection for readers seeking comfort, connection, and clarity.
Munmun Samanta, Author of Yellow Chrysanthemum
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