A Tribute

My Husband

Jerry Ray Harvey, born 22 minutes after his identical twin Gerry Jay, on April 26, 1958 in Wahiawa, Oahu, was taken to his eternal heavenly home on June 25, 2018.

His sparkling blue eyes lit up his face like a Christmas tree.  His enthusiasm for life was apparent.  He was a doer, a hard-worker with determination to provide well for his family.  He was a ball of energy with a never-give-up attitude.  He was conservative, but freely giving of his time and talents.  His joy came from helping other people.  He rarely passed an opportunity to lend a hand when others needed help.  His never-tire, never-complain, never-sit-still style was endearing.  He worked diligently for IBM for 33 years.  His goal was to retire at 55 years old, and that he did in 2013.  He then pursued a life-long dream of becoming a truck driver.  His opportunity came with FedEx, who gave him the necessary training to drive an 18- wheel, tractor-trailer.  He embraced that job with the same joy and passion as he did with any other task he endeavored to try.  No job was too intimidating for him.  He was a fix-it-yourself guy and attempted to resolve problems of any kind for anyone.  

He considered himself blessed even through his struggle with aggressive brain cancer.  He kept a positive outlook, inspiring others with his peaceful spirit.

Jerry is survived by his wife of 33 years, Tammy P. Harvey, and their 3 sons, Thomas N. Harvey (Danielle), Theodore R. Harvey (Cassie), and Joshua C. Harvey and his parents, Theodore C. and Sharon K. Harvey of  Effingham, SC.  He also was a proud grandpa to Charles E. Harvey, (son to Ted & Cassie).

One Day at a Time (Blog on Pause)

This may be a good time for me to put my Blog on Pause.  My husband and I just celebrated 33 years of marriage, and he recently had his 60th Birthday.  He is now under Hospice care after battling brain cancer since Oct 2017.  I would encourage all of you to take to heart what this poem says and live in the present because you never know what the future holds.  Every day is a gift.

The “Present”

The future is upon us and soon it will be the past,

The time spent on earth travels much too fast,

From a tiny embryo to a small, helpless baby,

To an invincible teenager; to a middle-aged lady,

To a gray-haired grandmother; to a decrepit woman on a cane,

The whirlwind of life has such joy- with a portion of pain,

At first, we thought we would never make it to ten,

It seemed so long to wait for, back then,

But one year goes by these days in a speedy flash,

It is no longer a marathon, it’s a 50-yard dash,

As children, we dreamed of being grown,

And now we are, youth is a covetous milestone,

If we live in the present, we will always be content,

We won’t wonder where all the time just went,

As we are reaching 60, and our hair is turning gray,

We may sense the days are quickly slipping away,

But in truth, each day is a gift, no matter our age,

Our life is much like a book:  we just turn the next page,

Each page, each chapter has its own story to impart,

We have the need to read ahead, the ending before the start,

However, one day at a time is a good pace to set,

We won’t cross the bridge we haven’t gotten to yet,

No worries, no dread, no regret, and no fuss,

We will enjoy the “present” God has given to us.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  5/20/2018

T-Rex Arms

Monkey in the Middle

The last flight I took was to Raleigh, ‘NC’,

Southwest Airlines – no assigned seats and no baggage fee,

I was the last one to board, and there were two empty seats,

One in the first row- lots of room for my feet,

I chose that one as opposed to the empty one in the rear,

Getting off first was appealing, and the urgency to be seated was clear,

The gentleman in the window seat was, let’s say, a rather large man,

He took up his seat and part of mine, imagine this if you can,

He was sleeping soundly when I sat down; he took advantage of the wait,

We were all boarded now, but we hadn’t even left the gate!

In a comfortable position was he; his arms and legs were sprawling,

He was snoring like a freight train, and my skin was creepy crawling,

His arm draped over our shared armrest; his knee pressed into mine,

The aisle seat passenger next to me was probably 6 ft- nine,

I was monkey in the middle, with my elbows pressed together, and

my hands pushed under my chin,

When the flight attendant passed by me, she gave a little grin,

She served us drinks, he did not wake; and she did not disturb him,

I had a soda and a bag of nuts, but was not sure how I’d open them,

My Tyrannosaurus Rex arms were lacking any range of motion,

I was wedged in as tightly as an anchor in the bottom of the ocean,

Not a long flight from Nashville to Raleigh, but it seemed like it was to me,

It was comical, yet uncomfortable, I’m sure you would agree,

The loudly snoring man awoke as the wheels hit the runway,

He was oblivious to the entire flight, but maybe he’ll read this someday.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  4/21/2018

Too Blessed to be Stressed

A Perfect Day, No way 

(I'm not lucky, I'm blessed)

A perfect day in every way, that’s what we think we need,

But things happen, plans go awry, and we get cranky indeed,

Do we have our health?  Are we feeling well?

Do we have running water?  Clean clothes that don’t smell?

Do we have shelter?  A roof over our heads?

Do we sleep comfortably in our own soft beds?

Is our pantry full, and can we afford to buy food?

If our answers are “Yes”, then why the bad mood?

A lot of people all over the world don’t have all of these.

So often we take for granted our abundant amenities,

Be prepared to dance in the rain, if it rains on your parade,

If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade,

Our situations are relative and always could be worse,

Think of that when you spill everything in your purse,

Or you drop your ice cream cone onto the ground,

Or the automated voice menu gives you the run around,

Maybe you had a bad hair day or something trivial like that,

You didn’t make it to the gym and now you’re feeling fat,

These are all simply things that shouldn’t make you stressed,

When you realize that most of the time you are truly blessed.

Tammy Harvey

Written:  4/12/2018