The first Armed Forces Day was held on May 20, 1950.  Prior to that date, each branch of the military celebrated separately. Armed Forces Day differs from Memorial Day in that Memorial Day commemorates those that lost their lives while serving in the Armed Forces.  In contrast, Armed Forces Day celebrates those that are currently serving.

The community of Chattanooga, TN has held a parade for 63 years to honor and celebrate our Armed Forces Day.   Why not check your local newspaper to see if there is a parade in your area?

A few years back, we worked with the Museum of Patriotism to collect thank you messages for the troops over the July 4th weekend.  Atlanta’s NBC-TV affiliate created a wonderful “thanks for your service” video.  More recently, Operation Homefront collected thank-you messages for soldiers serving in Afghanistan over the Christmas holidays.

In honor of Armed Forces Day, I’ll be listening to those messages again. I might even take in a parade, too!

The poignant phrase, “I  had to hear your voice…I guess”  is sung by county music star Toby Keith in  “Cryin’ for Me (Wayman’s Song)“  a tribute to his late friend, Wayman Tisdale who died three years ago today on May 15, 2009.

If you’re not familiar with Wayman Tisdale, his spectacular life seems almost too good to be true: “one of the greatest college basketball players ever” according to Michael Jordan. Followed by 12 years in  NBA when Wayman Tisdale retired to pursue his “first love” — music.  Wayman Tisdale recorded eight albums and climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart.

Unfortunately,  another word to describe  Wayman Tisdale’s life is “short”.  In February 2007, Wayman fell down stairs in his home and broke his leg. What the injury revealed, however, was cancer (osteosarcoma) in his leg. Tisdale underwent two rounds of chemotherapy. After 17 months of  treatments proved unsuccessful,  part of Tisdale’s right leg was amputated  in August 2008.  “They got my leg, but they can’t get my smile, they can’t get my spirit”.

After the amputation, Tisdale completed the album “Rebound” in 2008 and embarked on what was to be  a 21-city nationwide tour.  According to Keith  “…his esophagus gave way from all the chemo he’d been taking. At his last treatment all of his scans were clear and he was ready to go back to work. Then his esophagus collapsed and he passed away the next morning at 8 o’clock.”

Over the years at VoiceQuilt, many gift givers have captured the voices of family and friends – and have told us how grateful they were to have those voice message recordings – especially after loved ones had passed away.  At VoiceQuilt, we believe that a voice is like an audio fingerprint. It conveys a person’s personality, emotion and presence in ways that images and text cannot.

Tisdale’s final voicemail greeting “Sorry  you missed me. I’ll get with you as soon as I can. Thank you and God Bless”.  Wayman, we do miss you.

Retirement Messages For A Music Teacher

What is the best way to honor a work colleague who will no longer be in the trenches fighting  the “battle of the day”?  What would make a thoughtful farewell or retirement gift?

While we don’t always realize it, the folks we work with on a daily basis have a big impact on us. We may not fully appreciate  a co-worker until that person is gone.

Robert Fulghum, author of “All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”  writes eloquently about being shocked when his barber (“who became a terribly important fixture in my life“) abruptly took another job.  Fulghum had an epiphany:  just like his barber was important to him, he also fulfilled a role in other people’s lives…

This time of year, many gift givers commemorate retiring co-workers by having co-workers phone in tributes relating how they were influenced professionally and personally.   These voice message toasts are then presented in a  VoiceQuilt Keepsake Gift .  What better way to honor the friendships and legacy of a retiring colleague — than the personal reflections of friends and work colleagues?

Quilts of Valor and Iowa Public Television

Last week, I talked with Marianne Fons, a board member at the Quilts of Valor (QOV) Foundation.

Since 2003, The Quilts of Valor Foundation has coordinated the work of volunteers to create and donate over 61,000 Quilts Of Valor – beautiful, red, white and blue lap-sized quilts – to wounded soldiers and combat veterans. These handmade quilts are a unique and heartfelt way to support the troops. Check out the amazing background video here.

In 2010, the Quilts of Valor Foundation launched a special program called “Under Our Wings. With Under Our Wings (UOW), a rookie like me can support the troops by making a Quilt of Valor with the help of a mentor. All you have to do is go to the QOV web site and find an official Under Our Wings Quilt Shop nearby.

May is Military Appreciation month – a terrific time to support the troops by getting involved with the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

Not crafty but want to help? QOV recently co-produced a documentary called “Quilts of Valor” with Iowa Public Television. Contact your local PBS affiliate and ask them to request the program. It’s easy and you’ll definitely be enthused after watching the trailer here.

For more ways to support the troops during military appreciation month, check out these ideas. To get inspired, read our military thank you tips or listen to these amazing military thank you voice messages.

A Personalized Teacher Tote Bag

Our children’s teachers make an impact that is immeasurable and lasts a lifetime.  For National Teacher Day on Tuesday,  May 8, we’d like to  share some teacher gift ideas.

- A Touches A Life© Personalized Teacher Tote Bag is a fun and functional teacher gift

- A Self-Portrait T shirt will amuse the kids – and please the teacher, too.

- A Personalized Journal shows appreciation for a teacher’s thoughts and reflections.

Last year, a homeroom mom named Deanna asked all the children in a class to record a thank-you message for the teacher, sharing “what they especially liked about the school year.” Young Jordyn made us laugh: she appreciated playing in the dirt!  (Listen to the third message here.)   Jordyn’s teacher later told said that those thank you messages were her favorite teacher gift EVER.

We hope you’ll thank a teacher next Tuesday, May 8th, on National Teacher Day…regardless of the medium…

Meg Cox shares Mother's Day gift ideas from The Book of New Family Traditions

Meg Cox is the author of the classic resource book, The Book of New Family Traditions. A new edition arrives May 22 and includes hundreds of daily traditions for helping busy families connect. Meg generously agreed to share some Mother’s Day gift ideas here.

Generations ago in England there was an annual custom known as “mothering Sunday,” in which it was customary to visit one’s mum, take her a cake, and do the midday cooking so she could attend church. A very churchy lady named Anna M. Jarvis came up with the idea of bringing this custom to the U.S. She was said to be alarmed at how commercial the Mother’s Day holiday became during her lifetime.

In honor of Ms. Jarvis, here are Mother’s Day gifts that Moms can request – that are NOT commercial.

Mother’s Day Gift Idea #1: Breakfast Out of Bed
Judy Elkin decided that she hated getting breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day: there were too many crumbs in the sheets and she preferred eating with her kids. Now, her family brings her a menu and coffee in bed. She chooses her breakfast and then lounges. When it’s time to eat, she joins the family downstairs.

Mother’s Day Gift Idea #2: Role Reversal
For a full day, ask your kids to reverse roles and mother you. Let them pick out your clothes, cook your breakfast, kiss your boo-boos, read you a story, and tuck you in bed at the end of the day. There’s also a good chance you’ll receive some lollypops and new toys, too.

For more about Mother’s Day gifts and traditions, visit Meg’s Facebook page or check out her book. Of course, we’re a bit biased here at VoiceQuilt.  We hope you’ll also capture voices – young and old – telling Mom how much she is cherished. Like these!

With all the coverage about Instagram, I decided to give the photo editing service a spin.  I was impressed with Instragram’s simple proposition: We’ll help you:  1) take photos;  2) make your photos look cool; and 3) share them with friends.  For FREE.

I downloaded the Instagram app to my iPhone, imported a recent picture from my Camera Roll and then applied one of Instagram’s photo effects – in this case, a retro filter.  I saw the impact immediately.  (You can, too.  See my photo before photo editing and after – at the top of this post.)  When I clicked “Done”, I was able to share the instagram-edited photo on Facebook and other social media sites.

Instagram was the top news story last week when Facebook agreed to purchase the company in a deal valued at $1 billion (including $300 million in cash).  That’s a pretty good return for a company with fewer than 20 employees, no revenue and no business model. Speculation was that Twitter was also a suitor, fueling the quick proposal from Facebook and the astounding price.  (The two 20-something CEO’s hammered out the deal over a weekend.)

At VoiceQuilt, we focus on audio memories: voice-based toasts, tributes and even sentimental music.  Unlike images, audio is processed by the limbic brain and is inherently emotional.  That said, Instagram’s photo effects are a fun, free way to make a photo more memorable….so why not?

My Graduate!

My number one son is graduating from high school next month. I was thinking about making a VoiceQuilt graduation gift for him, but I quickly became overwhelmed thinking about how to gather all the contact information – e-mails and phone numbers – for all those that have touched his life over the past 18 years. Everything seems overwhelming at this time of year!

Then, I took a deep breath and realized, why not just include those closest to him? I know how to get in touch with everyone in my house (!) and his Aunts and Uncles. And since he is fortunate enough to have 2 grandmas and 1 grandpa, it will be easy to include them, too. Diamonds are forever, but unfortunately people are not. I love the idea of preserving everyone’s “We’re so proud of you” messages so that my son can listen to them over and over again – or whenever he needs a boost.

So, I’ve decided to do a “mini” VoiceQuilt, if you will: family only. No VoiceQuilt Keepsake Box for him…. Not his style. I’ll give him an electronic VoiceQuilt that he can keep on his phone. I’m also eyeballing the VoiceQuilt Mini-Boom Box. A Mini–VoiceQuilt and Mini-Boombox—- those two go together like peanut butter and jelly!

Yesterday, VoiceQuilt launched a “Listen Up And Help A Charity!” Mother’s Day contest on Facebook. When you vote for one of the Mother’s Day voice message videos here, we’ll donate $1 to that Mom’s favorite charity.

The Moms that shared voice messages have selected three wonderful non-profits:

The American Red Cross

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

The Wounded Warrior Project

Even better, the “I love you, Mom!” voice messages are life affirming. Treat yourself to a smile – and help VoiceQuilt support these important causes – by visiting ‘Listen Up And Help A Charity!”

Our guest blogger this week is Maureen Taylor:  Maureen Taylor is a VoiceQuilt gift giver and friend. More importantly, she’s also an internationally acclaimed family history expert that helps genealogy and family history buffs identify and date the subjects in old photos. The Wall Street Journal describes her as the nation’s foremost historical photo detective and she’s been featured on Hallmark Television, The View, The Today Show, Martha Stewart Living and more.  Here are her tips on new ways to store treasured family photos.

1000 Memories.com has a cute app named Shoebox, a digital version of what many folks use to store photos.  It’s intended for the iPhone but works well with my iPad.  In 5 steps I can “scan” and share a picture via social media like Facebook or Twitter or let my family comment on the image on my 1000 memories.com.  Here’s how it works: tap the scan icon to crop, adjust contrast and color or rotate the image.  Next, caption, date and identify the location of the picture. The whole process took me about a minute. I didn’t want the whole world to see my photos so I selected the privacy option.

This app is a clever way to copy family photos for the web but it’s not for long term archival preservation. It’s pretty cool to quickly share photos for input from family though.   Anyone use it on the iPhone?

Take a peek at what other’s have done such as one person’s Papa’s World War II scrapbook  or search for family names to see if your relatives are already creating digital shoeboxes.

It’s fun, fast and functional—go ahead and give it a try.