the able-hearted abrahams: after the fire
sunday the 29th of may marked a devastating day for tammy and skip abraham, residents of 105 fisher mill road in oley, just past the bridge near glick’s greenhouse. as a soap-maker set on making each bar as naturally as possible, inspired by the better and more whimsical ways of nature invigorating the mind, body, and spirit, tammy ran her shop out of her converted garage, under the name amber hills herbs & gifts. she planned to start an herb garden and had several plants inside under grow-lights, before they were ready to be put into the soil outside. with the room’s door shut, a decades old fan overheated and started a fire that took most of her family’s belongings with it. but very fortunately, tammy, skip, and their four dogs survived.
the two are staying with skip’s sister while the dogs are in the care of another relative. but in this, i feel it’s important that the people of the oley valley learn who these kind-hearted locals are because they’ve both become a wonderful part of my life, and it aches to know what they are going through. i want to do anything i can to help them pick up the pieces of their life, to start over one day at a time, the best they can. and with the oley valley being such a tight-knit, supportive, and giving community, i am confident that any of you who hear their story and learn who they are as people will want to do your part in helping them, whether it be through a small cash donation or any other way you can give, to be there for them in their time of need. drop-off sites in oley for donations are glick's greenhouse along with prout's jollyview farm during its strawberry festival. tammy's soaps will also be available for sale for $5 a bar at the strawberry festival, with the raised funds joining in with other cash donations for the abrahams.
the abrahams have voiced to me that they cannot believe already how kind people have been to them since the fire; this is so touching to me because it’s exactly how it should be—help and hugs reaching across a community when part of the whole is in need after a tragedy. monetary donations are of course something the abrahams will greatly and humbly appreciate, i know, but i also want people to realize that there are other ways of giving too, and i know any assistance at all will move their hearts more than we could imagine. for example, the owner of pampered paws on route 562 in boyertown has compassionately agreed to donate four pet grooming sessions for the abrahams’ four fur kids. help and effort from the heart is something so open-ended, and the possibilities are what you make of them.
as a writer in the area, i penned a feature about tammy’s soap shop in the boyertown area times a year ago, and this is when her heart became glued in part, to mine. last july, i started a positive-only local news publication called news, not blues. just a few weeks ago, my latest contributing writer whipped up a wonderful feature on tammy’s soap shop, and in it, you can see tammy’s spirit and the joy she takes in making her soaps, lotions, body butters, lip balms, and more—all one at a time, all with care. we are incredibly lucky to have such an artful, nature-inspired soap-maker right in our hometown. i never thought much of bar soap till i met tammy, and now i am the crazy woman buying six (or twelve ?) at a time, stocking up, as it’s always a downer when i run out my cherished soaps that, as i say, stink up my house the good way, with their scents flowing mood-perkingly from room to room. please also check out amber hills herbs & gifts on facebook—i run the page for tammy and have plenty of pictures up of her scent-happy samplings.
tammy is by far one of the nicest, most thoughtful, caring people i have ever met. i would say that any day, and i’m all the more happy to say it now in hopes that you will want to learn to know her too, along with her kind husband skip who would often gives me a handful of freshly finished beef jerky when i visited for soap. i am of the mindset in recent years to look at life as gratefully as i can, valuing how lucky i am to have met genuinely good people in my community, which makes me value it all the more. i am reaching out to you here in hopes that you might be willing to help the abrahams too. together, our efforts can make a big impact on bringing their life back to what it once was. we are very lucky to live in such a beautiful place, and i know the abrahams’ gratitude will be immeasurable to anyone who amiably lends a hand as a neighbor.
all cash donations received will be given directly to the abrahams. if you have any questions about how you can help, or if you have ideas for ways to assist them, please e-mail me: newsnotblues@gmail.com.
jennifer hetrick
boyertown, pennsylvania
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