Book of Original Poems and Memoirs

By Jacqueline Ivey

After high school, she became a student of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida, to be with the love of her life before marrying him and then transferring to and graduating with honors from Bethune-Cookman University. She was the wife of the late Mark Ivey III MD, and they were parents to three sons. This marriage endured for forty-four years and one-half years until he met his demise. Jacqueline was an educator in public schools in Daytona Beach, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Akron, Ohio; and taught middle school language arts and reading exclusively in Lakeland, Florida. Prior to her retirement in 2006, she had taught in public schools for thirty-four years.
Jacqueline is most enthusiastic about this book and yearns to share some of her writings and personal experiences with others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984528292

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline Ivey.

Library of Congress Control Number:        2018905886

ISBN:              Hardcover                    978-1-9845-2827-8

                         Softcover                      978-1-9845-2828-5

                         eBook                            978-1-9845-2829-2

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: 07/03/2018

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

CHAPTER 1

Papa, Daddy, Pops or Dad

The Christian Father (Christian)

Father’s Day

CHAPTER 2

A Warrior of Christ

God’s Promises (Christian)

Lord, I Praise Thee

Jesus the Newborn King and Savior

It Is Easter (Christian)

CHAPTER 3

Sending Out My Sympathy

Sympathy

Comforting Words

Get Well

Illness

Get-Well Prayer

Get Well

Get Well

Get Well

Get Well

Get Well

I’m Glad That You’re Better

Get Well After Hysterectomy

Best Wishes for Recovery from Knee-Replacement Surgery

Get Well Soon

God Is Love (Prayer for an Ill Friend)

My Prayer

A Prayer for My Loved Ones and Friends

A Loved One Is Lost

I Know What You’re Feeling

I Feel Your Pain (Spouse’s Illness)

The Death of a Spouse

The Loss of a Loved One

A Tribute to Daggie

CHAPTER 4

Happy Mother’s Day

My Loving Mother

Happy Mother’s Day

Thanks, Mother (Mother’s Day)

The Loss of a Mother

CHAPTER 5

Let’s Celebrate!

A Wedding Day Wish/Congratulations

Happy Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary

Graduation Day

My Son’s Birthday

A Birthday Wish

A Happy Birthday Wish

A Birthday Greeting

Best Wishes

A Birthday Wish for You

A Birthday Wish for Someone Special

A Birthday Wish Just for You

Birthday

Enjoy Your Special Day

Here’s to Your Birthday

It’s Your Birthday

My Birthday Message Especially for You

Two Birthdays, One Celebration!

Happy Birthday (Sister)

A Good Man vs. the Finest Wine

Wanna Bet?

Happy Birthday, Old Friend

You’re Turning Sixty- Five

Happy Birthday, Six-year-old

Happy Birthday, Friend

Happy Birthday to My One-time Love

Turning Fifty

Happy Birthday Old-timer

Happy Birthday (Seventy-one Years)

Happy Birthday

CHAPTER 6

Happy Holidays

It’s Thanksgiving Day

The Advent

A Christmas Gift

Christ Is Born

The Reason for the Season

Merry Christmas, Y’all

A Southern Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas, Mr. Postman!

Santa Claus

CHAPTER 7

To My Beloved

Puppy Love

Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day

It Was Not Meant to Be (Love Relationship)

My Boo

When the Honeymoon Is Over

A Man and His Bride

My Beloved Husband

A Tribute to My Loving Husband

Happy Birthday, Baby!

My Love

Happy Heavenly Birthday, My Beloved

The One I Love

To My Love

I Never Want to Be without You

I Will Forever Love You

With Regrets (Love)

Thank God, It Was a Dream

My Heart Is Breaking

The Thirteenth Anniversary of My Beloved’s Death

CHAPTER 8

Friends Are the Spice of Life

Sister, Sister (Friendship)

Forever Friends

Thinking of You (Friendship)

Friendship

We Were Never Meant to Be Friends

Thank You

CHAPTER 9

Nature at Its Finest

The Dawn of a New Day (Nature)

At Daybreak

Sunrise

God’s Wide Wonderful World (Nature)

The Earthquake

CHAPTER 10

Parenthood

Almost Bedtime Stories (Children’s)

Parenting (Dialect)

Hep

CHAPTER 11

The Golden Years

I Remember When

The Journey to the Golden Years

On Your Retirement

CHAPTER 12

Family First

A Family Reunion

Mom and Dad

Finding My Roots

CHAPTER 13

Everyday Thoughts

Life in the Slum

To Kill a Mockingbird (Dialect)

The Yearling (Dialect)

Onions

The Potato

Hershey’s Chocolate Hugs and Kisses

The Lemon

If I Could

Stop the Gun Violence

Language Arts Is Difficult

Fabriana

The Vampire

The Bird Overhead

The Tree Frog

Oprah

Boo Radley

At the Zoo

CHAPTER 16

Memoirs and Letters

Mom’s Memoirs

Mark Ivey, III, PharmD/MD

Mexico, Here We Come!

A Letter to My Love

Michael Ivey’s Birthday

My Son, the Bookworm (Michael)

Dad’s Tryin’ to Start a Fight (Michael)

Are You Bringing a Girl into This House? (Michael)

Marlon the Entomologist

Survival of the Fittest? (Marlon)

My Indiscretion (Mark)

Don’t Put Any Wavy on My Wits (Mark)

Put Him Back in the Casket

He Was a Precocious One (Mark)

Jacqueline Ivey’s Brief Bio

Dedication

Mother, you were my confidante and teacher, and you were loving, patient and always my inspiration and biggest cheerleader.

My beloved husband, Mark, we began a loving marital journey as one almost sixty years ago. We were fruitful and multiplied to a family of five, but grievously I had to subtract one the day that you died.

So, to my family (including our three sons), I dedicate this book of poems and family memoirs to each of you.

Preface

I am an only child who grew up with lots of love in Daytona Beach, Florida. My well-being was the focus within our household of three. Many sacrifices and much attention were afforded to me. I know of no child who could have ever been loved more, and it is one of the reasons that I have written this book. For all that is earthly good in me, I thank God for having blessed my mother with the spirit of wisdom and revelation and knowledge of our Lord. So, the wife and parent I elected to be is a direct result of my observance of and the mimicry of my loving and praying Christian mother.

Secondly, as a wife and the mother of three sons, I can sentimentally recall many exhilarating times that my family of five experienced. On the other hand, I have mused over the very provocative and formidable times as well, but putting pen to paper to memorialize some of those memories about times of our sons’ upbringing and the ultimate loss of my mother and spouse brought about sweet solace during my saddest days.

During his final days, my husband had lain in a hospital bed for almost three months, and as I saw his health ceaselessly deteriorate, no cistern could have retained the tears that flooded my face, and so, I began to target his then present state and later reflect on our happier lives as a family from years gone by. I then snatched a rough brown paper towel from the dispenser that was mounted on the wall of the hospital room and immediately began to take note of my husband’s state of health. I captured some of those dramatic moments during, but recalled most of the events following his death because writing was like a catharsis that alleviated some of the agony.

One section of this book is a collection of poems that I have written about aging, current events, birthday, Christmas and graduation celebrations, relationships, faith, cinquains; and some are simply there to curl one’s lips into a smile, such as alliterative poems, limericks and poems using portmanteaus. The other part of the book is a compilation of memoirs about my family of five as our sons were growing and maturing, or that transitional period that occurs between childhood and adulthood and our way of disciplining them as parents.

Chapter 1

Papa, Daddy, Pops or Dad

The Christian Father (Christian)

Fathers, you are the breadwinners and you bring home the bacon

You are the household head and that should not be mistaken

So love the Lord with all your heart, so that your children will fear him too,

This is God’s first commandment and it is biblically true.

Talk about his commandments to your children when you are at home

Or when you walk together along streets or wherever you may roam.

Love him with all your heart and all your strength is what he commands

This is very clear and every Christian father needs to understand.

You should educate them and be diligent to instruct them in every way

These are precepts for you and your children and them you must obey.

And in your authority, teach Scripture; be fair, moderate, and reasonable

Be affectionate and holy, and your children’s obedience is attainable.

Love them, admonish them in the Lord, discipline them and set limits too

These instructions come from the Lord and should be administered by you.

They also are God’s commands and decrees for enjoying a long life

And your children should know this when they take a husband or a wife.

If you are a faithful father to bring them up in the way they should go

Do this for your good, God will be glorified and the truth they will know!

Remember that you are merely the instrument in our Father’s hand

Because God is the ultimate authority and teacher, and this is his command!

Happy Father’s Day

Father’s Day

Dad, you know that I was always your little girl

You’d hoist me to your shoulders and give me a whirl!

I was absolutely sure that I was dancing with you

When I giggled stridently while standing on each shoe.

Rambunctiously, I would crawl upon your knee

And wiggle and squirm while you tried to watch TV.

You patiently helped me with homework I brought from school

And taught me the backstroke in our family swimming pool.

And with arm in arm, we made our way to my first ball.

This was merely the tip of the iceberg, for that was not all.

You were there when I donned my graduation cap and gown

And never once did you disappoint me or let me down

Father, you’ve been the love of my very short life.

I want someone just like you when I become a wife.

Chapter 2

A Warrior of Christ

God’s Promises (Christian)

I miss you, covenant brother,