NEW BADEN, Ill. — A New Baden woman who once used writing poetry as a tool for grief has recently decided to share her newfound hidden talent with the world.
Jeannette Schorfheide, 52, sees herself as a school counselor of 27 years, a committed teacher of two years, a 15-year cyclist, a proud mother to adult children, a passionate trainer for Race and Equity, and a beloved wife for 29 years but not a poet.
Although she has been writing since she could remember, Jeanette's family and friends encouraged her to publish The Calling Tree: An Inspirational Journey just in time for National Poetry Month. The book is a collection of her poems spanning three decades.
Jeanette began writing poetry in high school.
"I lost a couple of friends to car accidents and poetry kind of started flowing in my head. ... It became my coping mechanism."
Over the years, people who knew Jeanette have requested her poems for special occasions like funerals or baby showers.
"It was never my dream" to publish the poems, Jeannette said. But throughout her life, the poems just kept coming.
The book is a culmination of poems from 1991 — when Jeannette took a creative writing class in college — to the present day. However, Jeannette's husband Randy Schorfheide, who knew Jeannette in high school, said she has been writing since the mid to late 80s.
"She has a God complex and that is just her nature," Randy said. "By her writing and helping others, it also helps herself. That's a skill and a talent that I don't have."
Jeannette, who is deeply rooted in her Christian faith, reflected on the book before publication and noted that "God is there."
Randy is often the second person to see Jeannette's poems.
"There will be times when I will be at work and I'll get a text from her and it could be a poem," he said. "I'll read it and I am like that is wonderful."
Jeannette's long-time friend and colleague Angela Crawford said Jeannette and Randy have a special relationship.
"Randy is such her number one that he will reach out to us to get us on his side," she said.
Crawford has known Jeannette for 22 years and called Jeannette's poetry a hidden talent.
Poetry "was something that Jeannette kept very private and it wasn't until probably during COVID that she opened up about her poetry," she said.
"Covid Sucks" was the first poem Crawford recalls reading from Jeannette.
When she encouraged Jeannette to publish her work, Jeannette was hesitant.
"She didn't want that kind of attention," Crawford said. "She is not an attention-seeking person by any means."
Now that her inner thoughts are on full display, Jeannette said she wrestles with the idea that they are not worthy of sharing.
As a school counselor, Jeannette encourages her students to journal to cope with negative self-talk and anger management.
"It's like I tell my students we have to conquer our fears in order to grow. If we don't put ourselves out there and face what might come from it we cannot grow in ways we never knew we could."
Crawford believes that cycling, journaling, and poetry are all part of Jeannette's self-care, which helps because she gives so much to everyone around her. She also considers them to be gifts and says "15 miles just about killed me but she does 100 miles. ... This girl cycles 100 miles at a time."
Jeannette said she believed for years that she did not have a true talent but thanks to her family and friends the blinders are coming off.
