Some of the most accomplished artists, athletes, and entertainers of our time have struggled in their attempts to achieve success in their given careers. Some faced obstacles such as family issues while others had to make personal sacrifices to triumph in their chosen field. Loretta Young, Gabby Douglas, and J. Michael Stracynzski are three individuals who shed teardrops along the way, but persisted and eventually found success.
Finding Fame in Films
Movie and television star Loretta Young shed her fair share of tears during her life. Her parents divorced while she was a child, and as an adult, she suffered from nervous exhaustion from overwork, especially during her TV series, so she was hospitalized. Perhaps the most surprising tribulation she faced was her rape by famous movie star Clark Gable. The rape resulted in a child, Judith, and for over 50 years, Loretta Young never revealed what happened to her. In spite of her troubles, she kept her tears private. As she said years later, “Certainly tears are given to us to use. Like all good gifts, they should be used properly.”
Young used her teardrops to inspire her. She started as a child star in movies, and in her adult career, she appeared in over 100 movies. The actress won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the movie “The Farmer’s Daughter” in 1947. She also won numerous other awards including three Emmy Awards for her television series. With all of her success, most people would have never guessed the struggles she faced throughout her life.
Going for the Gold
Another young woman who started as child to build a successful career is Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas. She, too, faced many obstacles. At the age of six, Douglas began training as a gymnast. Her mother, a single parent with three other children, often found it difficult to make ends meet because her job as a debt collector barely covered the costs of raising four children. Still the family sacrificed so that Douglas could spend thousands of hours training and competing in those early years. Besides financial stresses, Douglas faced racism. As an African American, she claimed that she often felt bullied and excluded from the other girls who were training.
Eventually, in 2012, all the hours of work paid off when Douglas won gold medals in the individual all-aroundand teamcompetitions. Since then she has won numerous medals including another gold medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in the team competition. Of those early years, Douglas said, “Gold medals are made out of your sweat, blood and tears, and effort in the gym every day and sacrificing a lot.”
Traveling the Road to Success
The final example of a person who struggled to become a success is J. Michael Straczynski. Straczynski’s father found it difficult to keep employment. His father, Charles, was a manual laborer, so his dad was constantly traveling to find work which meant young Straczynski moved almost every six months. In fact, Straczynski attended four different high schools in four different states: New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, and California. In interviews, Straczynski admits it was difficult making friends since the family had no roots, but he found solace in books.
Straczynski has bounced around from to job to job more often than he has bounced around from state to state as a child. Most of his jobs involve his love for writing. He has written, or edited comic books (Amazing Spiderman), television scripts (“Babylon 5”, “Walker, Texas Ranger”), novels (“Demon Night”), movie scripts (“Thor”, “Changeling”), and much more. In the past three decades, he has won several awards including the Bram Stoker Award, the Hugo Award, and the Bradbury award. Despite his loneliness as a lad, he has obviously found success as an adult, and perhaps it is because of his attitude he recently expressed. He said, “I’m a big believer in the idea that while we are the sum of our tears, we are also the product of our choices in how we deal with those tears.”
Making Teardrops into Triumphs
These three individuals grappled with challenges from an early age. Even though they all come from different backgrounds with different goals, each has one thing in common: they have turned their teardrops into triumph with their positive attitudes. That type of spirit is what we at Hit Trophy wish to celebrate with our series of Glass Teardrop awards.
These awesome awards appear in various sizes and colors, but they all come in the shape of a teardrop. The largest is our Blue & Black Glass Teardrop (item #2220). It stands nearly a foot tall (3”x 10”) and weighs five pounds. The blown glass includes hues of indigo and ebony throughout the tribute, and because each one is individually made, each piece is unique. This glass art award stands on a translucent glass base with a black and silver engraving plate attached to its front face. Our graphic artists can place up to four lines of text on the plate for you. All engraving is free for all of our products.
Next, we have our Teardrop Art Glass Award (item #1625). Although slightly smaller than the previous award mentioned, this glass teardrop has a multitude of colors inside its shape of 2.5” x 7.5”. Orange, black, red, and blue are swirled inside the award in an eye catching explosion of color. A black glass base provides an engraving plate which will hold two lines of text.
Our Green Teardrop Glass Art Award (item # GLSC44) mixes green, lime, and olive with other colors into a droplet encased by a clear glass teardrop. Standing over half a foot tall (2.25” x 7”), this one of a kind accolade is made by hand. Our design department will engrave up to three lines of text on the base, and we will provide a free deluxe gift box with this item. This remarkable memento also comes in shades of blue and appears in our catalog as item # GLSC45.
Allow us to help you recognize the people you know who have prevailed despite problems. Reward those individuals in your community, institution, or organization for their persistence. Present those people with a positive attitude a Glass Teardrop Award from Hit Trophy!