July 13, 2006

Coming together

Once Upon a Family brings families closer

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

Misty De La Rosa grew up in a dysfunctional home feeling unloved and unwanted. As an adult she has tried to create a family life for her husband Rich and their five children where they felt valued and loved.

“Traditions create the shared memories that connect us to each other,” says Campos. “The most powerful ways to strengthen family ties is with photos of the family engaged in the traditions they enjoy the most.”

“I’m from a very dysfunctional family,” said Misty. “Family means the world to me because I know what it’s like not to have a family.”

So when she discovered a memento/scrap booking company called Once Upon a Family, it was only natural that she became a sales consultant for the company.

From preserving childhood memories to establishing family traditions and values, Once Upon a Family aims to enrich family life through products ranging from themed photo albums and keepsake boxes to holiday activities and love notes.

“Once Upon a Family helps people to understand the importance of spending time together,” says De La Rosa. “Their products provide ideas of things to do with your children.”

Inspiration
As a mother of five children, ages 8 to 26, company founder and CEO Lorle Campos understands the need for parents to simplify, organize and enrich their family life while juggling a busy lifestyle. Motivated by her frustration at locating family photos for her daughter’s high school graduation video, she realized there must be a better way and founded the company in 2003, in Irvine, Calif. to provide solutions to others.

Campos believes that family rituals make lasting impressions. “It’s the simple family events repeated over and over again that stay with us,” she says, “like an annual family camping trip, lining up like sardines on a blanket to watch the Fourth of July fireworks, or grandma’s famous pumpkin pecan pie at Thanksgiving. We remember these moments because they touch us in some way; good smells, good feelings, good times or someone special spending time with us.”

De La Rosa agrees, knowing how much family traditions mean to her own five children. Every year, her family makes tamales for Christmas, like she did as a child with her grandmother.

“It was fun and a chance to talk,” she says. “This year, my daughter reminded me how important these family memories were to her. My children also look forward to opening their Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. These kinds of family traditions are what Once Upon a Family is all about. It’s amazing how something so little can mean so much.”

Through stories and guidelines provided in her engaging book, “The Little Things are the Big Things,” Campos illustrates how to create these types of moments and memories. Filled with black and white photos, the book advises its readers to, “Love, laugh live...treasure the moments.” It also outlines Campos’ Seven Keys to Creating Family Ties, including spending time together, showing love and appreciation for each other, establishing traditions, preserving cherished keepsakes and staying close to those far away. “It’s never too late to start,” says Campos.

She hopes that through the information, products and ideas she shares, people will be inspired to do things with their own families. “We never outgrow the need to feel loved, important and cherished,” Campos says. De La Rosa agrees and enjoys her husband’s writing, “I love you,” in their peanut butter jar as well as their family treasure box and gallery of family photos in their hallway.

Campos’ heartfelt suggestions include writing annual birthday letters to a child, gifting a friend or family member with notes of appreciation attached to the branches of a potted plant or tree and corresponding with grandparents. Neighbors can become better acquainted through the Traveling Neighbor Basket, which includes an album to which each family adds a page of photos and information, as well as some homemade goodies. An idea for a keepsake Father’s Day book is to take photos each year of his children’s hands resting in his own.

“Traditions create the shared memories that connect us to each other,” says Campos. “The most powerful ways to strengthen family ties is with photos of the family engaged in the traditions they enjoy the most.” Compos advises taking the same picture each year at a birthday party or holiday event to create a sense of belonging and family identity. “Lessons for Little Ones” teaches family values to children through interactive activities, such as showing loving kindness on Valentine’s Day.

She also suggests creative holiday activities to bring family and friends together. During a New Year’s Eve Candlelight Ceremony, each person lights another’s candle, recounting a special memory or achievement the other has accomplished. Valentine’s Day can be extra special with homemade muffins with a little love note inserted into their tops.

On St. Patrick’s Day, children can participate in a Lucky Penny Hunt and tell why they are lucky. For adults, a Halloween party game of musical chairs and costumes will add to the fun. In this game, each guest brings a surprise costume in a brown paper bag and places it under a chair. When the music stops, each guest discovers what they’ll be wearing for the evening. “Your guests will bring outrageous costumes because they know they won’t be the ones wearing them,” says Campos. “Prepare for an evening full of laughter.”

Through Once Upon a Family’s love letters, family as well as marital bonds are strengthened. Husbands and wives can write a love letter to each other and parents can tell their children what they mean to them. “It makes a tremendous difference,” says De La Rosa. “Family is very important to me. I grew up in a dysfunctional home and knew my parents didn’t like me.” She left home at 17, and was fortunate to find a family who took her in and treated her like their own daughter.

As a result, De La Rosa makes sure her own children know how much she loves them. “Every day when they leave, we kiss them goodbye and when they walk in the door, we kiss them hello,” she says, “because they matter.”

When her daughter first saw a Once Upon a Family catalogue, she immediately thought of her mother, and hearing about it, De La Rosa knew it was the business for her. “I love what Once Upon a Family represents,” she says. “This business has become a part of me. It’s what I like to do and what I believe in.”

Campos believes that creating and maintaining strong family ties is as simple as reaching out to those you care about. “Trust your instincts,” she says, “and follow your heart.”

De La Rosa agrees. “After living in a dysfunctional home, where I wasn’t wanted…after I left home, I made the choice that when I married and had children, they would know they were loved and valued.” For instance, for their 20th wedding anniversary, Misty and Rich De La Rosa could have taken a romantic trip by themselves, but instead chose to spend this special anniversary with all of their children at Disney World.

Once Upon a Family consultant Misty De La Rosa can be contacted at (408) 891-6507. To order products from her online, visit onceuponafamily.net and enter her name.