“No matter the situation or circumstance, she always had a smile,” Jay shares about his late wife, Daisy, for whom he is growing an Eterneva Diamond. “She always looked at the good side of things. And she always found ways to help others.”
Daisy's Mothers With Angels
There is so much merit behind Jay's words. Daisy was truly the epitome of selflessness. Even in the wake of their own tragedy, after their son, Crayvon, was killed in a motorcycle accident by a drunk driver in 2015, Daisy channeled her grief into helping others like herself: mothers who had lost children to tragic accidents.
Through her nonprofit organization, Daisy’s Mothers With Angels, she helped mothers connect with one another and ultimately, find a way back to themselves through shared experiences that made life vibrant again. Hiking. Wine and paint nights. Opportunities to get out of the house that weren’t grief counseling.
She knew firsthand that what these women needed was connection and comfort, so they could talk openly about their loved ones.
A Shared Love of Travel
Both real estate agents, Daisy and Jay always carved out time for adventure—especially for their anniversary. In 2008, they honeymooned in Playa Del Carmen, and traveled nearly every year after that. Apparently they were fans of scorching heat, as Jay recalls vacationing in Sydney, Australia when the brush fires were out of control, and Paris, France, during its hottest year on record.
When asked about their favorite vacation together, Jay mentions their first cruise with Royal Caribbean, where they visited Jamaica, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. “We had no technology, no phones, no iPads, no TVs. Instead, we enjoyed the peace, the nature, and the pretty sunsets.”
Unfortunately, the last trip Daisy and Jay would take together was to the Gisundt Clinic in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, for Daisy’s cancer treatment.
Coping and Moving Forward
“We were there during COVID,” shares Jay. “They put her body into a deep fever, and held it at 107-degrees for an hour, putting her immune system into overdrive to kill the cancer cells. The machine looks like a tanning bed. Daisy was unconscious for about six hours and basically slept the entire next day. It took a toll on her body, but by the time we returned to the states, the cancer cells had shrunk to half their size. Which gave us hope. But then the world shut down for a year, and we weren’t able to make it back.”
Daisy passed from colon cancer on October 17, 2020, four days after Jay’s birthday. She had received forty-three chemo treatments.
When asked how he powers through each day after losing both Crayvon and Daisy, Jay states: "You just have to be aware of how you’re feeling at the moment, and be willing to change your mindset. If you feel like you’re getting down or falling into a rut, or if you’re starting the negative self-talk and beginning to shut yourself off from society…you have to make a physical adjustment. It doesn’t have to be big. Just…watch a comedy show. Call up a friend who makes you laugh. Go sit at a park. Read a book. Take a really long walk. Put on some music that you like. For me, it’s channel 51 - BPM (Beats Per Minute) on Sirius XM Radio. It’s electronic dance techno music. I don’t know why, but when I feel myself getting into a funk, I’ll turn it on full blast, and that helps change my mindset. Everyone has a different way of coping.”
A Diamond for Daisy
Deciding to grow a Diamond for Daisy has been a meaningful part of Jay’s grief journey. One carat and colorless, he’s planning to set the Diamond in a ring. “I always call her my Rockstar Angel Daisy,” he says. “So those emojis are going to be engraved on the band.”
Other engravings Jay has planned are the day Daisy was born, the day she died, and the day they got married.
“How we met is a funny story,” he adds. “Because it almost never happened. She blew me off four times after we’d been chatting online, though we both lived in Cape Coral, Florida at the time. Finally, we met at this place called Martini bar. They had dueling pianos. We met at like 7 p.m. and we just talked…and talked and talked. We shut it down. And we were together from that day forward.”
When asked what he hopes to think of when he finally gets to hold Daisy’s Diamond, Jay replies: “Just happy memories.”
If you have experience with non-profit organizations and/or feel inspired by Daisy's mission of helping parents who have lost children to tragic accidents, please get in touch with us at [email protected]. We would love to connect you with Jay to continue Daisy's legacy.
