How To Take Charge Of Your Life's Story: One Mom's Journey

Tammy and 3 great kids with Tammy's parent's, plus Coco in Anna's Grace's lap :-)

It started with one tiny baby...
In 1999, one of our Baby's First Year members, Anna Grace, came for her first portrait session as a tiny 3 month old Preemie who had just reached her birth weight.
Her parents, Tammy and Todd, had not counted on spending months in the hospital before and after the delivery of their first child. With the help of their extended family and a lot of prayers, they took charge of their life's story as Anna Grace quickly caught up in growth and developmental milestones over the next year.

Then the family started growing along with great business success...
Along came Wyatt in 2001 and then, in 2004, Tucker completed their family. It is one of our greatest delights to see a family growing and changing--and having the privilege of creating a nice portrait history for them.
Any mother knows that having 3 little ones within a 5 year span is a 24/7 job, but Tammy was also a part of their family's growing business, Window World. And, boy, did it grow! A small roadside stand Todd's dad had opened in 1995 has now grown into almost over 200 Window World offices in 45 states!

Todd with Anna Grace and Wyatt

With Todd as president and later the CEO, they were busier than most families could even imagine, but they took charge of their life's story once again by taking frequent trips as a couple and with their children. (As a business owner myself, I know that is about the only way you can truly break away from the demands of any business, large or small.) Tammy and Anna Grace were involved in (and winning) horse shows together. Wyatt was quickly becoming a football star at his elementary school and Tucker was starting school and making lots of friends.

Life takes a sudden turn...
But suddenly, their story changed again, when Todd passed away unexpectedly just before his 41st birthday in 2010. Everyone that knew them were shocked at the news. We were heartbroken--knowing the loss this sweet family had to deal with and how it would affect the children.
By this time, they were living back in Tammy's hometown, North Wilkesboro, just minutes from the children's grandparents and other family members and that, along with community support and again, a lot of prayers, is what gave them strength to take charge of their story once again.

Blessings abound...and the future is bright.

Today, Tammy is the Chairman and CEO of Window World and has advanced the efforts of Window World Cares (Window World's charitable foundation that Tammy co-founded in 2008), giving them the ability to present a check in December 2012 to St. Jude's Hospital for over 2.8 million dollars! Since I mainly know Tammy as a mom, I was super impressed seeing her in her role as an influential, successful CEO on the cover of a trade magazine. They had a feature article on Window World being ranked number one in top awards in the remodeling industry. Talk about coming out on top...wow!

And on the homefront...
As we have done since 1999, we created portraits for their family this past fall, but this time we went on location to their home.
When I saw room by room, portraits beautifully displayed all over the walls throughout their home--the warm feeling I had stayed with me for weeks. It was heartwarming to see their whole portrait history as a testimony to the happy family they are.  Even more so, as we spent the day with them, it was pure joy to see how great the kids are doing--at home, in school and their outside activities. Tammy was so excited about a surprise she had for the kids-a family trip somewhere warm over the holidays!

We look forward to hearing the next chapter as they take charge of their life's story... no matter how that story unfolds.

Tucker keeps 'em laughing!