Fraga has been collecting glass ornaments since early childhood. In fact, his mother gave him a stack of childhood pictures and one picture shows him (seven or eight years old) sitting on the grass during the summer sorting ornaments, while others were nearby enjoying typical summertime activities. Fraga grew up in a large family -- the youngest boy with seven older sisters. They lived in a close neighborhood where everyone knew him. As Larry was growing up, he wanted everyone to have a festive home for Christmas and as their neighbors grew too old to decorate, he would go to their homes and decorate for them.

Years later, these same neighbors who always remembered Larry, would remember him once more when they passed away. He was mentioned in several neighbors' wills when they left their Christmas decorations to him. Larry particularly remembers one dear neighbor, Mrs. Walters, that he always helped with her Christmas decorating. One year he found a box in the attic that they had not used before and when opening it up it was full of the most fantastic pieces -- beautiful ornaments, old bubbles lights, etc. Mrs. Walters thought they were just old ornaments, but to Larry they were beautiful. Every year after that, those pieces were used throughout her home to decorate. Years later at her funeral it was evident that those years also held wonderful memories for her, as she left all her decorations to Larry. It's hard to lose your friends, but those ornaments are now a very special part of his decorations.

Going back to about four years ago, Fraga remembers watching television and seeing a commercial about glass ornaments. As he watched it, he thought "I could do a better job designing ornaments" and a week later he was on a plane to Europe. Although it is apparent that this is the perfect fit for Fraga -- in retrospect, Larry says if he had done research and realized how competitive the market was, he would not have done it.

Photographs (c) 2001 Barbara Crews, licensed to About.com, Inc