 Custom Honors™ is available to families, organizations and individuals that want to remember and pay tribute to great patriots and heroes of their lives because of two sisters’ desire to honor their own father. We had been talking the previous Memorial Day about the sacrifice that families of those lost in war have made. My husband grew up without a maternal grandfather as he was killed in the Battle of the Bulge, leaving behind a young wife and 18 month old baby. The fabric of his family and millions of other families is completely different than it would have been if he had not been killed. We had considered creating a flag memorializing the fallen hero, that could be flown on memorial day by families that had lost a family member in the fight for American freedom, but had not been able to find an appropriate vendor for the flags. The thought was still there, but we were not pursuing it. In October of 2008 our 84 year old father became ill with pneumonia and instead of quickly recovering it became a very serious illness, resulting in 6 weeks of acute care hospitalization. After his release to a rehabilitation center to regain his strength, Veterans day was approaching. One rainy afternoon, Mary sent an email with an attachment of a fabulous picture of our father superimposed on an American flag along with the USMC symbol and the Naval Air Station Alameda patch, symbolizing his 37½ years of service to America. Our dad is a perfect example of "once a Marine, always a Marine," and It seemed like a great way to cheer him up, to reflect his long life of service to America in this picture. On veterans Day I took his beloved Marine's cap and the picture, which I had framed and matted beautifully to the convalescent home early in the morning. I put his cap on him, and called Mary on the phone. While I took pictures of him,  so I could show her, she spoke over the phone for both of us, and thanked him for being a great dad and for his many years of service first as a Marine and secondly as a civil servant resulting in our ability to live in a free society and being well prepared to face life. At the right moment, I handed him his personal tribute from his daughters. Our dad has never been a very emotional person, being a Marine and all, but to our great surprise he was very clearly overwhelmed by this tribute. He couldn't take his eyes off of it- far beyond the normal, "Huh, how about that. Uh huh, very good" that we are so used to. At the same time, the nurse that delivers the medications had come to bring him his medicine. She politely waited, as she knew this was a sensitive moment. She too was greatly touched and loved the picture tribute that we had presented. I looked, and she also had tears streaming down her face. At the right moment, she resumed her duties and approached dad and said, "Semper Fi"! And he returned the familiar Marine salutation. She then told us how her son was currently serving in Fallujah, Iraq on his second tour of duty with the Marines, and after administering meds asked if she could buy a picture like that of her son. I replied that we didn't sell them but that we would love to do one for her as a thank you for her son's service. She brought us a picture the very next day, and we happily provided a picture to her also. She was so  touched, she just held that picture frame like she was holding her own son. From there...more nurses were interested, and it was apparent to us, that Mary has a unique talent to capture the essence of a person's contribution to America in an artistic form that is honoring of their service to America. We provided many many Custom Honors™ tributes at no charge to anyone for a long time, but the demand kept increasing and the extreme amount of time involved to give proper sensitivity to each individual, as well as the cost for custom matting and framing left us at a crossroad. We could either turn people down and not do it, or we could start a business and provide a service allowing people to honor the heroes of their own lives. We chose to establish Custom Honors™, and the response has been overwhelming. We are thrilled to be a part of people's lives, acting as their family's historians, bringing to life in art the combination of history, storytelling, photos and memorabilia to create truly unique heirlooms to be treasured for generations to come. |
