GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Following years of persistence and work, two West Michigan natives have created a movie now being aired for Easter by major American media company Hallmark.
'The Blessing Bracelet' centers around main character, Dawn, who is inspired to keep hope and faith amid hardship.
"She's on the verge of bankruptcy and losing her house because of the situation she's been left in around an ex-husband," the movie's co-writer Patrick Ziegler said. "And so she gets an extra job. And from there, she starts handing out the bracelets and it goes beyond."
13 ON YOUR SIDE spoke with Ziegler and his co-writer and business partner Teresa Thome. They said they were inspired by real events, including a real Dawn, real bracelets and a real message.
"The bracelets themselves were created by Dawn and she, I mean, I don't want to speak for her," Thome said. "But I know that because we've been inspired by her that the bracelets were definitely created, as Patrick said, to give thanks to recognize, to understand, to connect with your faith and your spirituality by, like Patrick just did, touching each stone in the bracelet and giving thanks."
The message of keeping the faith is one they view as having been central to their own lives and journeys as they went on to co-found their company Fubble Entertainment.
"If you would have told me that I would be doing a children's TV show with Theresa back in my hometown, you know, I would be like, 'You're crazy,'" Ziegler said. "But again, that was a surrender over to what's a higher thing that I should be doing. And that's what I believe for us around this project. I love that it has a spiritual faith based message to it, because it really is about surrender."
The two hope their journey to this moment as longtime friends and business partners will inspire not only the movie's audiences, but others as well to keep pushing to realize their dreams.
"I think that just in general, I would just say to people, 'persevere,' and you are two degrees or three degrees of separation from anything you need to accomplish if you just keep trying," Thome said. "I mean, like Patrick said, when they said yes to us four years ago, they said, 'We're going to produce this movie in two weeks, two months or two years.' And we never gave up hope. Four years later, we're here."
The movie premiered on Easter night on Hallmark's Movies and Mysteries channel. It will also be running throughout the month of April.
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