Pearls
of Wisdom from
Grandma
and Grandpa Harvey
On Your 60th Wedding Anniversary
She was only nineteen and he just twenty-two
When they met inside the Cowley church to say their first “I
do’s.”
Fast forward twenty years and you’ll find them dressed in white,
Four children by their side this time and nothing’s felt more
right.
Another twenty years go by and a celebration’s in full swing
After 40 years together, “Love
is a Many-Splendored Thing.”
Fast forward twenty more years and you find them here today
Celebrating 60 years—a
lifetime together!—built the Harvey
way.
How in the world did they do it? How did they actually survive?
When there is so much more to it than simply staying alive?!
The answers manifest quietly, as so many good things come.
Listen closely, then, as we recall their cherished pearls of wisdom.
“Remember who you are” Grandma Harvey told us from our youth
(Though sometimes easier said than done, we never forgot that
truth.)
“Be productive, loyal, and
honest in your life and in your work”
Grandpa Harvey taught us clearly these are duties we don’t
shirk.
When it comes to your employment: “to thine own self be true”
After 22 years at Sweetheart Bread, this is something Grandpa knew.
“Bloom where you are planted,
do the best with what you’ve got”
Grandma taught us this in word and deed – whether she realizes
it or not!
“Family togetherness is vital
to our lives,” as you both showed us with great care
Every game, concert, baptism or wedding, you have always been
right there.
“Above all, worship the Lord
and follow Him,” the supreme lesson you taught with love,
One you’ll no doubt still be teaching, long after you’ve gone
above.
Fast forward twenty more years, who knows what lies in store?
As your children and posterity, could we possibly ask for more?
After everything you’ve given us, after all the love you’ve
shown
After all the laughter and the tears, after all the ways we’ve
grown
You gave us the gift of life
itself! We wouldn’t be here
without you
So we’ll graciously accept what lies ahead because we know
what’s true.
We know you’ll keep on living and giving and doing what you
adore…
Grandpa speeding down the interstate, Grandma
yelling “fore!”
Yes, we look forward to the next twenty years with hope from up
above
As today we celebrate two ordinary people who built one extraordinary love!
Poem by Jenn Stewart
The Rest of the Story
When you live in small-town Wyoming, it only takes a few moments
of introduction to discover your connection with someone else. You might have
common friends from work, or you may know their family through another
connection. The bottom line is you pretty much all know each other one way or
another. This tight-knit community networking was a large part of how things got
done in that area.
Remember Sister Buchanan from my Nursery Poem? Well, it took
me a while before I realized she was connected to the Caracena family. My
husband was good friends with Joe Caracena and it turned out that Joe’s wife Cristi
was Sister Buchanan’s daughter. Small world! The above poem was written about
Sister Buchanan’s parents, or Cristi’s grandparents. Perhaps it was the Nursery
Poem that sparked the idea in Sister Buchanan, but somehow between the three of
us, it was decided I would write a poem for the occasion that could be framed
and given to the Harveys as a gift from their posterity.
In order to write a poem that really captured 60 years together,
I felt I needed more information, even after interviewing Cristi and her mom
and picking their brains. Cristi ended up providing me with a ton of background
info. There were letters, journals, written memos and papers from her
grandparents that I was given permission to sift through. I took my own notes
and when all was said and done, I came up with the “pearls of wisdom” I discovered.
After running them by Cristi and her mom, their misty eyes confirmed that the
messages I gleaned from those pages were indeed reflective of the “Harvey way.”
I wrote the above poem and went back and forth with Cristi on
all the fine details until it fully captured the exact sentiment she and her
mom wished to convey through its message (for example, "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" is a song written in 1955 played at their 40th wedding anniversary). This wasn’t the first time I wrote a poem for someone else, but it was definitely the first time I put this much effort into researching the subject of a poem before it was
written. This poem was truly a labor of love and it was an honor to catch a
glimpse into the lives of these wonderful people.
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