Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes Who is Trevor you might ask? I am talking about none other than 10-4 Magazine’s own Trevor Hardwick. This very talented young man was destined to be passionate, be it trucking, art, or the poetry he’s shared with all of us for over the past 18 years in the magazine. I had the honor of driving his new 389 Pete from ATG Interiors in Shipshewana, IN to Vancouver, WA for it to go into paint and get some other final touches, as this new truck was being tastefully transformed into a classic masterpiece. Sometimes things only get better. After I delivered the truck to the shop, the ride from Vancouver to home was in his current truck at the time, his “Chasing Tomorrow” Kenworth. I couldn’t help remembering the days when I drove a 1989 T600 with an Aero 1 bunk on her. And then, as the icing on the cake, I got to meet Trever’s mom, Cheryl. In so many of his poems, Trevor talks about his dad “Smokey” and the influence he was in his life and so much of what he does. However, Trevor’s mom, who also drove, influenced Trevor in a positive way, as well. I thought her story of living with these two larger than life men – one her husband and one her third child – was worth telling. Once we finally got to meet in person, Cheryl and I hit it off, and the stories we got to share at dinner that night were awesome. Memories of days when the kids were young and so was she. She will tell you, “I was a hottie back then,” and the pictures I’ve seen back that up 100%. When they met, Cheryl was living in an apartment and the landlord wanted to put someone quiet in the apartment above her. But, the new tenants upstairs were anything but quiet, with slamming doors and loud arguments, all while Cheryl was sitting downstairs and cringing at the noise. It was just before Thanksgiving when the woman upstairs left. She met the young man (only 19) when he came to her door to ask if he could use her phone, saying, “Hi, my name is Mike.” Cheryl ended up inviting him to have Thanksgiving with her and her family, and from there things went at Monfort speed. Mike invited Cheryl to dinner with him at the Space Needle, but she told him she didn’t have anything to wear. So, he bought her an outfit and told her she had no excuse. They went to dinner on December 7, 1974, and less than three months later, they got married on Valentine’s Day in 1975. Like the song says, “We’re not rich, but we have love.” That love was wrapped around six amazing kids. Over the years, they moved around a lot and did what they had to do to make ends meet, and lived incredible lives, with all the stories now to remember those days. Cheryl told me, “We showed our kids everything they shouldn’t do, and they have all turned out great.” I want to thank Cheryl for letting me be a “second mom” to Trevor – being called Mama Kim by Trevor and the love his life Alicia makes my heart happy. Alicia and Trevor make the perfect couple. I don’t think anyone could understand better all his passions, supporting and helping him make all his crazy dreams come true. Sharing a story with me, Cheryl said she almost lost Trevor on a roller coaster before he was even born. I asked, “How could you get on a roller coaster when you were pregnant?” And she answered, “Because I didn’t know I was pregnant.” After that ride she ended up going to the hospital, where they prescribed bed rest. Smokey stayed with her for days, with her feet up, waiting on her hand and foot, and seven months later, she had their amazing son. Smokey got his nickname from one of his other loves – motorcycles. He traded an old VW bus for his first Harley. Cheryl said it was a “baling wire special” but he was so proud. The day they went on their first ride with friends, nobody wanted to ride behind him because that old bike smoked so bad! They started calling him Smokey that day and the nickname stuck. The bike broke down on that ride, but they finished it anyway (in the back of a pickup truck). In all the poems Trevor writes, you can feel the love, admiration, and lessons he learned from his dad. It was from him that Trevor got many of his amazing 68 10-4 Magazine / March 2026 TREVOR’S MOM
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