Tears of Joy contributed family stories, poems and quotes. If you would like to contribute a family story, here is what we are looking for:
1.Interesting family stories Funny stories of things that have happened in your family or to a family member Interesting stories about your family history Inspiring stories about someone in your family Tributes to family members that are no longer with you and what they meant to you
2.Poems about Family 3.Quotes about Family 4. Personal stories of changes in families over the years or personal experiences with your family
Some items found here are videos and other information our company has found on the web that works with this topic or are used as examples of the types of submissions we are looking for.
Back about a year and a half ago when my grandchild Jordyn Alyssa was almost seven she and I went on a afternoon journey. Grandpa lived in Hutto, Tx at that time and there is a great little creek near us off of hwy 685 south of Hutto. I had driven over the bridge and glanced off to the west many times telling myself i need to stop sometime and walk back along the creek. I decided to do just that and being that Jordyn my precious grand-girl was with me and knew this time we needed to take that walk along the creek together.
The name is Brushy Creek and when it rains a lot its becomes a raging force of water. Several people have had to be rescued from its boiling waters when heavy rains have occurred. However, this day was a wonderful fall October afternoon and it was just the perfect time of year to do a trail walk.
We pulled up along the side of the road and jumped out and headed back to the area where we could slide down a small path and start our journey along the south side of Brushy Creek. The weather was just beautiful and Jordyn immediately took her shoes off and starting wading into the cool, clear, moving water. Grandpa had just remembered to bring his camera and of course I got busy and took a picture of her heading out into the water. The smile on her face told a story in its self. She was in her own little world and seems so at home wading about.
We continued on down the creek to a large cement area that formed a bridge almost over the entire creek. Grandpa took more pictures of Jordyn sitting on the rock, holding some wild flowers she had picked, holding onto a tree branch. Every picture turned out so perfect just like a photo shot. As she had been in a beauty contest earlier in her life, the child just had a natural way to pose for these beautiful outdoor scenes.
Grandpa took over a dozen photos of my beautiful bi-racial child that day. I replied that the Indians used to roam these areas and probably camped and fished along this creek. Grandpa, Jordyn exclaimed, "I'M part Indian, you know!", "Yes, Jordyn I know you are part Cherokee on both sides of our family.
As we wandered back down the creek towards the car, Jordyn again waded into the bubbling water, she slowly turned to Grandpa and said, "Grandpa, you have made this a very memorable day for me." I suddenly had a big frog in my throat and a tear appeared in my eye and I said "Jordyn, honey you couldn't have said anything more precious to ol' Grandpa that what you just said.. I will and shall remember those words and that moment in time for the rest of my life...I hope she will remember them too. In fact, I know she does as just this past weekend, I over heard her say to her Momma, I want to go to Brushy Creek again. She remembers now almost two years later...I am forever blessed for the two unforgettable hours with her at Brushy Creek. Bill Taylor, TX Second Place Winner of the January 2009 My Favorite Moment In My Life Story Contest
As a young girl and growing up in a household of ancient values at the hand of my very strict parents and grandmother, I was a shy shell of what I have become now in my own adult life. I was an extremely insecure adolescent who could do little without a friend nearby.
Coming into my final year of middle school (8th grade - age 13) I had a wide circle of friends, or at least I thought. My first day of that school year saw my group of friends (the dreaded clique circle) walk up to me and hand me a note, and then they walked away. The note in summary ( and from memory) read:
"We do not want you to hang out with us any more because you are too needy. You always need one of us to come with you...Grow Up"I spent the rest of the day by myself, I ate lunch alone as I watched my old friends all laughing. Such cruelty from a group of gals I'd known since age five. I felt like the whole school of kids viewed me as those girls did. I spent the entire day holding back tears. I walked home alone that day, the pain became anger.
When I got home that evening the anger led way to rebellion. I cut my hair, long locks which had graced the small of my back. My old friends all had long hair, it was what "we' all did to belong. I cut my hair short, real short. I got rid of the girly trendy styles of clothing "we" all use to wear and rifled through my fathers old baggy sweaters and shirts. A new me emerged - where had this person been?
The next morning at school was spent being just me. I had no cares for who accepted my new look, I held my head high as I walked passed my old friends as they pointed and whispered to one another. I cackled back, much to their shock. Gone was the shy and bashful girl.
At lunch and sitting again alone, one of the girls from the popular gang came over. I always envied and for some reason hated these girls, the old group of gals hated them so I did too, without even knowing them. Wendy, who was a cheerleader sat by me and said she had heard what the other girls did to me and thought it was really mean. She told me that I could hang out with her group. I grabbed my lunch and sat at the popular table and looked over my shoulder at my old friends and just smiled. My new friends were all asking who did my hair, and where did I buy that sweater?
The next day, my new friends where wearing their dads old sweaters. Two now sporting self short hair cuts. In my rebellion, I became a bit of a trend setter and found myself.
This is a favorite moment in my life because that very moment to this day still defines who I am today. I remain indifferent to what's "cool" and irreverent to opinions.
About five years after high school I ran into one of the "mean girls" at a local event. "Jane" gave me an apology for handing me that note back in 8th grade. She said that she always felt bad when she looked back at that moment. I wanted respond acerbically, but did not. Instead I thanked her for the push to find me and had long ago let go of the pain of that day. "Jane" and I remain in contact to this day. She became a teacher, I often wonder if her apology stemmed from watching modern time school "mean girls" behave? Reflections can remind of us who we once were, and what we've become and why. Kathy Buck Port Washington, WI Third Place Winner of the January 2009 My Favorite Moment In My Life Story Contest
Cathie Dodd Tears of Joy Video Yesterday I was taking some of our old family videos and transferring them to DVD, and when I watched this video, I said, this should go on YouTube. If there were such a thing as YouTube when this was created, it would have been up the next day. This is our dad. He is 88 years old now and completely bed ridden. But this was in the days when he was just a funny old man J We entertain him when we visit with these old movies of parties and good times spent with friends. He still is a ham in front of a camera, and he loves music, so today we hope to create some film with him and a green screen and put him into scenes to make him feel he is out in the world. We will share some of those as we create them. But I thought I would share a piece of his past and hope you get a smile like we do when we watch my dad and his great sense of humor. Leave comments for him and we will share them with him to cheer him up while he is in bed. Thanks.
A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.
For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.
In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000.
He asked her about the contents. 'When we were to be married,' she said, ' my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.'
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.
'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money?
Where did it come from?'
'Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.'
Today is my Wedding Anniversary. I'm grateful Tark and I are able to share this day once again. Many of you may not know my Tark is in the end stages of liver disease. His spirits are high and his love for me. . .overwhelming.
I never thought the day would come when I'd be thinking "It's getting near. . .I know I'm going to have to say goodbye." How do you say goodbye? I've always been so used to saying "Hello."
Tark and I have always been gentle souls and very kind to each other. Our friends have always admired that about us. We take the time to show the respect and love we feel not only to each other, but to our family and friends.
When our lives started to change, Tark and I changed. Tark couldn't walk anymore. He lost many pounds of muscle. He's bleeding and looks like he's in pain. None of that makes any difference to me. When I look deep into his eyes, I still see "My Tark." That is my thought everyday. I will always have that wonderful memory. I tell him how much I care and give him more love than I ever have before. . .if that's even possible. So, I'm grateful to still have my Tark with me.
Thanks for listening to me. I've been very emotional today. I wanted to share with you a poem that helps me to remember to say what I feel. I hope you will do the same.
IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you fall asleep,I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door, I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more.
If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise, I would videotape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.
If I knew it would be the last time I could spare an extra minute or two to stop and say "I love you," instead of assuming, you would know I do.
If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day, well I'm sure you'll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away.
For surely there's always tomorrow to make up for an oversight,and we always get a second chance to make everything right.
There will always be another day to say our "I love you's", And certainly there's another chance to say our "Anything I can do's?"
But just in case I might be wrong, and today is all I get, I'd like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget,
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike, And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight.
For if tomorrow never comes, you'll surely regret the daySo if you're waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
That you didn't take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss and you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear, Tell them how much you love them and that you'll always hold them dear,
Take time to say "I'm sorry," "please forgive me," "thank you" or "it's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today. Contributed by Kathy Tarochione Picture a Moment www.pictureamoment.com
The best storyteller in my life was my mom. My mom was handicapped, but as her body broke down around her, her mind was as sharp as a tack. She had a way with words that made everyday occurrences seem like major events, and she had a memory (which she passed on to me) that she could remember things far back in her life with deep detail. My sister and I used to go sit on her bed and ask her to tell us stories of her life. We had heard these before, but we never tired of hearing them over and over again. I can repeat these stories in detail like my mom, and have past them on, but no one could tell them like her. For certain stories she even changed her voice for the characters, and she did the facial expressions of the person of the event she was relating. When I relate the stories-some of the story is lost. We lost that with my mom’s death.
Story telling is an art. Some are writers. I know our business partner Julie is a fantastic writer. When we first met she lived 3000 miles away, but kept in touch by letters, and I always enjoyed reading her letters, they were always so entertaining. Some cannot write, like my mom (there were no home pc’s when she was alive-and her disease caused her not to be able to write-even her signature was hard), but they have a great way of telling a story. If our video business was around when my mom was alive, I know I would of forced her to tell those stories on video (because of her disease, she hated cameras). But now the way she told those stories is lost forever.
I believe my mom’s story telling was passed on to my sister and me through our talent of creating video montages. Now with our video business we cannot only create our own stories, but we can help our customers create their stories. When we capture their story with their pictures and video, many times they come back to us and say it was much better than they ever expected. Yes, they cry “Tears of Joy”! It is rewarding to know we have captured their family stories, their memories-and now they can have them forever. We know from personal experience what that means.
Stories are very powerful, especially ones that touch our heart. They help others relate to us, draw close to us and want to get to know us better. If you can artfully tell a personal story in a way that people can relate to, and then provide a solution by a product, you have your audience hooked. I am hoping to see more of those types of stories here-not sales pitches. Sales pitches turn people off. No one likes to be sold to. But stories that touch the heart draw people to you; you sell without the PITCH. Which do you think is better?
These stories don’t have to be of some spectacular event. Like my mom, your best stories are lying in your own personal experiences that happen to you everyday. Sharing your feelings and then your solutions or the lessons you learned from the situation. We would love to hear your story. As our tag line says: Everyone has a story…What’s yours?
A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it. -- George Moore
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. -- Jane Howard
Family faces are magic mirrors looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. -- Gail Lumet Buckley
I think people that have a brother or sister don't realize how lucky they are. Sure, they fight a lot, but to know that there's always somebody there, somebody that's family. -- Trey Parker
In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair. -- Auguste Napier
In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. -- Alex Haley
Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family. -- Anthony Brandt
To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there. -- Barbara Bush
Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing. -- Jim Rohn
A father carries pictures where his money used to be. -- Author Unknown
A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow. -- Author Unknown
A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child. -- Knights of Pythagoras
Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. -- Author Unknown
Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys. -- Anonymous
Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance. -- Ruth E. Renkel
The first man a little girl falls in love with is her Dad. -- Author Unknown
The lucky man has a daughter as his first child. -- Spanish Proverb
The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother. -- Theodore M. Hesburgh
4 years: My Daddy can do anything! 7 years: My Dad knows a lot…a whole lot. 8 years: My father does not know quite everything. 12 years: Oh well, naturally Father does not know that either. 14 years: Oh, Father? He is hopelessly old-fashioned. 21 years: Oh, that man-he is out of date! 25 years: He knows a little bit about it, but not much. 30 years: I must find out what Dad thinks about it. 35 years: Before we decide, we will get Dad's idea first. 50 years: What would Dad have thought about that? 60 years: My Dad knew literally everything! 65 years: I wish I could talk it over with Dad once more. -- Anonymous
A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. -- Irish Proverb
A mother holds her children's hands for a while...their hearts forever. -- Author Unknown
A mother understands what a child does not say. -- Jewish proverb
A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them. -- Victor Hugo
Before becoming a mother I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have seven children and only one theory: Love them, especially when they least deserve to be loved. -- Kate Samperi
Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends towards the formation of character. -- Hosea Ballou
I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me "mommy." -- Author Unknown
If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your mother told you to. -- Author Unknown
A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. -- Isadora James
A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. -- Marion C. Garretty
A sister smiles when one tells one's stories - for she knows where the decoration has been added. -- Chris Montaigne
A true sister is a friend who listens with her heart. -- Author Unknown
I smile because you are my sister, I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it! -- Author Unknown
If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. -- Linda Sunshine
One of the best things about being an adult is the realization that you can share with your sister and still have plenty for yourself. -- Betsy Cohen
Our siblings push buttons that cast us in roles we felt sure we had let go of long ago - the baby, the peacekeeper, the caretaker, the avoider.... It doesn't seem to matter how much time has elapsed or how far we've traveled. -- Jane Mersky Leder
Sisters may share the same mother and father but appear to come from different families. -- Author Unknown
A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead of the television. -- Author Unknown
A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend. -- Author Unknown
A grandmother is a mother who has a second chance. -- Author Unknown
Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. -- Pam Brown
Being pretty on the inside means you don't hit your brother and you eat all your peas - that's what my grandma taught me. -- Lord Chesterfield
By the time the youngest children have learned to keep the house tidy, the oldest grandchildren are on hand to tear it to pieces. -- Christopher Morley
Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap. -- Doug Larson
Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation. -- Lois Wyse
I heard from one of our customers this morning and she told me about a showing of one of our videos. Her story gave me chills. I had created a video for her father’s memorial. They decided to play it at her brother’s house afterwards. They played it in his family room and kept it playing over and over again for hours.
During all that time, her mother sat a watched the video over and over again. For a number of years her mother has had Alzheimer’s and hasn’t even recognized her own children. But her daughter told me as she watched this her face started to light up. She used music that was all her fathers’ favorites and her mother started moving to the music.
After a while she started recognizing her husband and her children on the screen. By the end of the evening she was telling people, this is my daughter. She was recognizing all her kids. Her daughter said it was amazing how she reacted to the video.
She called me to talk to me about creating her mothers story now. She wants to do this while her mother can still respond to it.
Even now this story is getting me emotional. To know that something I created allowed these kids to have connection with their mother again. That is priceless!
