JustHappyTears is a personalised gift company with a poetry twist. At JustHappyTears we put together sentimental gifts for special occasions by creating beautiful pieces of poetry and having them printed on wood, canvas or metal with a picture of the customers choosing. As a former RTE Journalist, I never thought I could grow a successful business from my passion which lay in writing pieces of prose and poetry but after years of having friends and family asking me to write poems for special occasions I decided that there was a market opportunity there and I took the plunge. In terms of my ‘Eureka moment’... there was one particular incident which made me bite the bullet. I I was on a plane journey from Los Angeles to Boston a few years ago. My Mum had been diagnosed with Dementia and I was trying to come to terms with it all. I wrote two poems. One entitled, ‘Remembering’ and one entitled ‘Mama’. The poems summed up everything that I was feeling at that particular time and seeing it written down helped me process everything. One poem was a celebration of my Mum’s life, the other a depiction of reality for our family at that time. It was so cathartic and I still refer to the poem, ‘Mama’ when I want to really remember my Mum as she was. As soon as I got off the plane I sent the poems to my Dad. He immediately facetimed me with tears in his eyes saying he was so grateful to be able to read them everyday. He said it would help him to remember Mum as she was and also to process what lay ahead. That was when I realised I wanted to do this for other people everyday. I wanted to help them preserve and celebrate the special relationships and people they have in their lives.