Tina’S Tender Thoughts: A Collection of Poems Written Through the Sands of Time

By Ernestine Paraiso

It is my hope that, as you read this book, you gain a connection and see the passion I had for the individuals for whom I dedicated each written poem. For three generations I have been writing and collecting poems for various individuals who requested them. I loved doing it and did it from my heart. As for the special holidays and occasions highlighted in some of my works, as the reader the goal for you is to interpret the message I wish to convey. Now it is time that you sit in a relaxing easy chair as you read and enjoy Tinas Tender Thoughts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543482492

Ernestine Paraiso

Ernestine Paraiso a.k.a Tina has always shown an outstanding ability to put down her thoughts and imagination in writing. As a young child she would lie down on the grass and study the cloud formations and eventually fi nd one that would become a character in a story she would make up in her mind. As time went on, she began forming little poems about various clouds that went drift ing by in the sky. Her talent was fi nally recognized by a teacher when she was 10 years old. It grew until she was repeatedly being asked to write a poem about a specific topic, or special occasion or holiday coming up. Most of Tinas Tender Thoughts were written for a child or grandchild, but often the recipient would be a coworker or friend who was experiencing something unusual in their life or just her own personal inspirations. This very heartwarming collection of poems written by Tina is sure to bring smiles, chuckles, and maybe even tears to your eyes.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Ernestine Paraiso.

Library of Congress Control Number:              2018901391

ISBN:                  Hardcover                     978-1-5434-8251-5

                            Softcover                       978-1-5434-8250-8

                            eBook                            978-1-5434-8249-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/10/2018

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Poems Dedicated To Family Members

Beating Betsy

To Chris

A Christmas Wish

Dear Mama

My Ballerina

A Lullaby

The Midnight Tea

The Trophy

For Kenny

To Dawn, Mikey and Lori:

Sleepy, The Friendly Sandman

Love

It’s Magic

Halloween

Dawn’s Birthday Party

What is Color?

The Wind

Georgia

The Rooster

A Blanket Of Snow

My Funny Snow Man

A Tiger

Laura’s Kitten

Fair Maiden

The Christmas Card

Miranda and Alyssa

For Baby-To-Be

For James Earl Goolsby

Little Teddy Bear

A Self-Portrait

The Gum Ball Machine

The Mouse

Missy

Hello sweet William,

For Elise

Poems Dedicated To Friends And Co-Workers

A Birthday Wish

Casanova

Dear God:

Dawn

Rock and Roll

The Hula Tree

A Poem For Mothers Everywhere

The Wandering Penny

Ode to a Little Girl

Ode to a Little Boy

In Memorium

Poems Dedicated To God

Footprints

The Cross

The Creator

When Satan is Bound

I Talk to God

Seeing God

Prayer Of a Preacher’s Wife

I’ll Never Walk Alone

The Wise One

A Dedication Prayer

Family Picture Album

Letter to Mom

INTRODUCTION

(Written by Cynthia Paraiso Young, Tina’s 4th child and youngest daughter)

Ernestine Arnold Paraiso, (Tina) my mother, always had a passion for writing. From the time she was a young child growing up in Pontiac, Michigan she enjoyed creating stories and poetry for different situations as they related to different people and circumstances in her life. She never thought of herself as being creative or talented because she didn’t have to put any effort into writing a story or a poem. It was a God-given talent that she just thought everyone had. Her first understanding that she was gifted in that area was when she created a poem for a school assignment when she was 10 years old. The class individually was to write a commentary about a book they were assigned to read. My mother, rather than just writing a report about the book, wrote a poem. The teacher was so impressed by her talent at such a young age, that she called Mom up to the front of the class. My mother was extremely shy and introverted, so it was a very painful and awkward experience for her to be subjected to. In fact, she thought she was in trouble. The teacher told the class that she wanted Tina to read the poem that she had written aloud to them. After Mom read her poem, the teacher made the statement to the class that each of them should remember the name Ernestine Arnold because one day she would be a famous poet. That awakened her knowledge that her writings were not only acceptable, but extremely good. From that point on, Ernestine wrote each piece she created passionately with effort and deliberation.

Later on, in the same school year, Mom overheard my grandmother talking to a friend about the Salvation Army inviting aspiring authors to submit a story for publication in the newspaper that they circulated. So, my mother decided to make up a story about a German Shepard named Shep. She told my grandmother she wanted to send it to the Salvation Army so that her story would be published. My grandmother advised her that she should not be disappointed if they didn’t choose her story because she would be competing against adults and teenagers. Even though she was given a warning about it possibly being rejected, she insisted that my grandmother submit it for her. So Grandma did just that and when they found out that a 10 year old wrote the story without any help, the Salvation Army decided to publish it. My mother was so excited and proud! She probably did not realize what an honor that was! However, that event inspired my mother to write stories and poems for different occasions and different individuals throughout the rest of her life.

When my mother was about 11 years old, she moved to Chicago, Illinois with her family. She attended school until the 10th grade when she stopped attending school and began earning money taking care of children for working mothers. She was 17 years old when she met my father. She married him and started a family when she was in her late teens. During the time she was raising her five children, she enjoyed writing poetry for them and occupied them by reading her poetry and stories she had written to them.. After her children became a little older and were all in school, Tina obtained her GED and began working in office administration for various companies. In each of her jobs, co-workers would ask her to write a poem for various reasons, a holiday gathering, to surprise someone on their birthday, etc. Her children and eventually her grandchildren would ask her to write a poem about something……maybe a pet, a hobby, or a certain subject and she would do it whenever they requested her to. Thus, she started a collection of some of the poems that she created laying the groundwork for Tina’s Tender Thoughts.

In 1998, as a birthday gift, I presented Mom with an electric typewriter so that she could type up her poems and place them in a binder notebook (See attached letter on pages 152-153). She utilized her spare time typing up all of her handwritten poems. Some of them were already typed on an old manual typewriter she owned for years. Because of the fact that