Hi yall, my name is Teressa and I own Sassy SnapShots Photography. I have been doing photography since 2006, pretty much self taught in the beginning and later took classes at Gadsden and Jacksonville along with workshops, and online stuff. I am always learning. I love meeting new people and turning my clients into friends. You see it's not just a job or business, it's building relationships. I have met lots of people that have become my best friends through my photography business.
I am here today because of my clients, yall are the backbone of my business. For years my photography was an outlet for me and at the time I had no idea, it was an outlet for a lot of dark times in my private life. It helped me through. I am a firm believer in telling your story because you never know who it will help. To help others that have no hope or that are lonely, and even contemplating suicide. I have been there. I can speak from experience.
But moving on, most everyone knows that we recently lost my daddy. This man is so special to me. He was always someone that I could go to for advice. He was my hero. I have so many wonderful stories that I may end up sharing on my IG stories. My daddy was taken from us so fast we didn't even realize it. There's so many things that we will never understand no matter what we do and won't bring him back. The last time I laid eyes on him was 2 days before he passed and I stood in the hallway of his house telling him he needed to go to the doctor if he didn't get to feeling better. I kept my distance because of this corona mess. We had been to the beach and the deal was we were gonna keep our distance for 2 weeks to keep momma and daddy safe. Daddy had lung issues and had just had pneumonia back in November of 2019 and was in the hospital.
I wish I would have talked to him early and begged him to go to the hospital. We all have regrets no matter what.
He is no longer here for us to hug, ask advice, see, but I will tell you ALL the videos and pictures we have between me and everyone else I can hear his laugh. I can still hear his voice and see all the fun times we had especially with Snap Chat, that is what is getting us through along with lots of prayer and friends and family.
My daddy was a positive male influence for my kids and grand-kids. He loved them and me and my momma with everything he had.
This past Monday was 2 weeks and some days I don't want to get out of bed, I wake up at around 2-3 every morning and can't go back to sleep, I am either having bad anxiety attacks or completely numb, there is no in between. The last few weeks have been a blur.
I want to share with you my daddy's eulogy that my son wrote and read the day we said, see you later. My son did amazing. And I know it was not easy being in a room so packed that it had people standing, and being so close to daddy but it was perfect. I hope you enjoy reading this. Make sure to follow along on Instagram to read short stories and pictures about my daddy. Thanks to everyone that has checked on us. It means the world to us. Keep us and others that have lost loved ones in your prayers.
"Good evening everyone. When writing this eulogy, I had to
reach out to several people. My pawpaw was a great man and deserves nothing
less than the best. As my pawpaws favorite grandson, and most handsome
grandson, I intend to give him the best. So that he may be remembered for the
great man he truly was.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid." John chapter 14: Verse 27
Jerry Pruitt was many things to many people. He was a son.
He was a brother. A husband, a father, and a grandfather. But there was one
thing he was to everyone. A friend. He was a shoulder to cry on. He was a
helping hand. A humble Christian. An encyclopedia of wisdom. He had a smile
that lit the room, and seamlessly washed away all of your troubled thoughts. He
had a gentle and soft touch, despite how hard his hands worked. He yielded a
soft voice, with soft eyes. He was nothing less than a big teddy bear.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light." ~ Matthew chapter 11: verses 28-30
Jerry Pruitt, was the embodiment of these verses. He would
take your worries as his own. You knew you could always go to him and find
peace, laughter, and love. He was reliable, and compassionate. He worked hard,
and played harder. Sometimes I was convinced that work was his play time. You'd
never find him sitting around for too long. Whenever I would visit, I never
expected to see him as I walked through the door, as I knew I'd find him in his
garden, or tinkering in his shop. He loved to work, and create things. I
remember when I told him I wanted a replica sword from my favorite video game.
So he found some wood laying around and took me out to his shop where we
started hand crafting it. When we had finished, it was perfect. He got
everything right, and all he was going off of were the words I used to describe
it. He always amazed me, just how careful he was with his work, and
craftsmanship.
It wasn't just materials he was good at crafting with. He
was also proficient in his words too. When I was younger, he would tell me all
these outlandish stories that mesmerized me. He helped my imagination run wild.
One of my favorite stories to this day was about how his pinky toe was blown
off while he was in the Navy. I now know that he had just cut it after jumping
from a barn window. But the child in me still believes in his stories, no
matter how farfetched they seem.
Jerry was as mischievous as he was kind. Always ready to
lighten the mood, like the time his vehicle got stuck in mud, and he had Martha
try and push it out just to cover her with mud. He had a special way of making
people laugh. He really did enjoy the simpler side of life. Every Saturday
morning Teresa, when growing up, would go and get in the bed with Jerry and
Martha and they would just lay in the bed and laugh and talk. He was proud of
his family. No matter how far you stumbled, or how much of a mess you made. he
was proud. His heart was big, and his soul pure. He had so much pure love to
give to those around him. He taught us the value of family and tradition. It's
as many have said before, he was the backbone to our family. Now we come
together, to carry the weight for him, so he may rest.
Sometimes it's not easy to be the one to survive. But with
the love and memories he has left behind, we will mend our wounds in time with
the good lords light, and carry on his name, his wisdom, and his heart so he
may never truly perish from this world.
You don't need a paper and pen to tell someone how amazing
and special this man was, and what he meant to this world, and those around
him. But there are just too many great ways to describe him. He was an
extraordinary man. He touched peoples hearts in ways very few in this world
can, and though our great green Earth has lost an important man, our good lord
and heaven have gained a magnificent angel.
Let us pray:
Our father..
We humbly entrust in you our son, our brother, our father,
our grandfather, and our friend.
We ask that you deliver him from all evil, and may you
welcome him to paradise where he may rest.
We ask that you let his light shine on us as we continue our
journey through this life you have given us, and may his memory never fade from
this world.
We ask that he may be united with his passed brothers,
sisters, mother and father and friends. And that you embrace him in your holy
light.
In your name we pray: amen."
