{"id":45122,"date":"2023-08-03T10:03:42","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T14:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=45122"},"modified":"2023-08-03T10:03:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T14:03:42","slug":"crowley-publishes-late-husbands-memoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2023\/08\/03\/crowley-publishes-late-husbands-memoir\/","title":{"rendered":"Crowley publishes late husband's memoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Danielle Ray<\/em>
\nLandmark correspondent<\/em><\/p>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 Finishing her late husband\u2019s book is something Jennifer Crowley felt compelled to do, a way to show her love for the man who shaped who she is today and to preserve his legacy.<\/p>\n

Francis B. \u2018Tyke\u2019 Crowley IV started writing his memoir, Hungry for Air<\/em>, 11 years ago. Unfortunately, he wasn\u2019t able to complete it before he died Dec. 7, 2015, surrounded by Jen and his family and friends. His wife made it her mission to get the book published \u2014 and she did.<\/p>\n

Jen posted on her Facebook page in November 2022 that Hungry for Air<\/em> had been published.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did it, Tyke!\u201d she penned. \u201cNow your story, your life, your lessons can continue to inspire people everywhere \u2026 I can\u2019t think of a better way to say I love you than to share your story with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went on to write that \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for a book about overcoming the odds, about getting up over and over again, about what we do for family, a story to inspire you, to make you laugh, make you cry, and to see how one man learned to make each day count \u2026 then this book is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jen teaches third grade at Dawson Elementary School in Holden, where she grew up and has lived since graduating from college. The Wachusett Regional High School graduate started her teaching career in Clinton in 2004 and then moved to Chocksett Elementary School in Sterling the next year, before settling at Dawson in 2006.<\/p>\n

She and Tyke were together for eight years.<\/p>\n

“We met at a New Year’s social event through the Appalachian Mountain Club (the AMC) in January 2008,” she said. “<\/span><\/span>We were married at Camp Calumet in Ossipee, New Hampshire, on June 18, 2011. I went there as a kid and was a counselor there through college.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Tyke lived a remarkable life, overcoming cystic fibrosis and two double lung transplants and during his 43 years on Earth he loved deeply \u2014 his wife, his mother and father, his sisters, his brother, his lifelong friends \u2014<\/span> and he gathered all that he had learned through his struggles to help others, the focus of his book.<\/p>\n

Jen said they \u201cdid not get a chance to have kids before he died\u201d following a battle with cancer. When asked what she misses most about her husband, she said, \u201cIt\u2019s not the big things you miss the most when someone dies; it\u2019s the little day-to-day things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI miss living life with Tyke. I miss waking up and falling asleep next to him. I miss seeing him smile from across a room, the way his hand fit into mine and the way his hugs felt,\u201d she said. \u201cI miss telling him about my day, walking the dog, cooking dinner, planning our winter skating parties, talking about the future. I\u2019m sad for all the life we didn\u2019t get to live and experience together.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>At the same time, I\u2019m grateful for the eight years we did have together, and I wouldn\u2019t trade them for all the pain of losing him. I am who I am today because we loved each other and because he died. His love and his death have made me the person I am right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyke was just starting his career as a \u201clife tested coach\u201d when he died. Jen said his clients were getting great results, and that she knows he was going to help a lot of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis book is a way that he can keep doing that,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope his story inspires people to live their best lives \u2014 to be grateful for today because that\u2019s the only thing we have for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Completing Hungry for Air <\/em>was cathartic, Jen said. In the Facebook post announcing its publication, she stated, \u201cIf you knew Tyke, you\u2019ll love him more after reading. If you didn\u2019t, you\u2019re sure to see the great man that he was and how he packed more into his years that many of us do in a lifetime. Make Each Day Count!\u201d<\/p>\n

She said people often ask her if there was a sadness, like an ending to a chapter, when she finally published the book.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it was quite the opposite,\u201d Jen said. \u201cI am so happy to be able to share Tyke with the world now, not just the people I can talk to. Usually when someone passes away, you are only left with the past, your memories and pictures of them. Tyke left me with an amazing gift. His book allows his influence to keep growing. It\u2019s as if I have a living part of him here, one that can only grow. Now anyone in the world can know Tyke and be inspired by his life, not just those of us who knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book is available for purchase on Amazon (go to amazon.com and search “Hungry for Air”), and people can follow their story at hungry_for_air on Instagram (instagram.com\/hungry_for_air\/?igshid=NjIwNzIyMDk2Mg%3D%3D<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The reviews of the 204-page inspirational book are stellar, with one person calling the memoir \u201cremarkable,\u201d and another stating that they were \u201ccontinually astonished how he handled grueling and painful setbacks, yet kept such a positive attitude and love of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people say they can\u2019t put the book down and they read it in two nights,\u201d Jen shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who knew Tyke and his family often comment that they didn\u2019t know the depth of the experiences they went through, and they express the admiration they have for each member of his family and their part in his story,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople who didn\u2019t know Tyke often comment on his ability to overcome so much and to be such an accomplished, positive person.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked how it feels to read the beautiful words people write about her husband, Jen said it\u2019s wonderful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect it from the people who knew him,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you knew him you knew what he was made of, but to hear strangers say it is amazing. It\u2019s confirmation that his story is incredible and can be powerful in peoples\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her hope is that more people will read the book and write a review, and then perhaps buy a copy to share.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can spread Tyke\u2019s story and inspiration one reader at a time. It\u2019s my hope that people will use the book to connect with each other again, one to one, and share some positivity and inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Danielle Ray Landmark correspondent HOLDEN \u2014 Finishing her late husband\u2019s book is something Jennifer Crowley felt compelled to do, a way to show her love for the man who shaped who she is today and to preserve his legacy. Francis B. \u2018Tyke\u2019 Crowley IV started writing his memoir, Hungry for Air, 11 years ago. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-obituaries"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}