"We're visiting here from England, and I must say everyone is very friendly."
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"These guys live at the Claridge, and I'm their dog walker. I used to be in corporate, but after I got laid off, I decided to pursue my passion and open a pet sitting business. We live on ten acres down in Hernando, but I have a lot of Memphis clients, so I'm up here every day. We have eleven dogs of our own, including some rescues, and we also do open boarding (non-caged) and pet-sitting. I love animals, and I love what I do!" 
Bridget James is the caregiver / trainer / owner of All God's Creatures Pet Services, specializing in dog walking, pet sitting, boarding, grooming, and obedience training. She can be contacted at 901-246-1409 or at [email protected].
"I'm with the Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority, and I love my job. I'd like to be remembered for being a hard worker." 
"The hardest time in my life was twenty-two years ago when I lost my son. He was 18 years old and the victim of a drive-by shooting. I got the phone call from a relative he'd gone to visit, but I couldn't understand what was being said. They kept telling me, 'You gotta come, your baby's been killed!' I said, 'Come where? Who is this? My baby's right here, he's coming up the stairs.' I was talking about my nine-year-old. But then this relative used my nickname and I realized who it was and what they were telling me. I started screaming and screaming, and I couldn't stop. My baby was gone. He was gone. I couldn't believe it. "All kinds of people tried to comfort me, but there was nothing anybody could do or say. The thing that meant the most during that time was when my best friend came by with her 16-year-old son. He didn't say a word. He just took me by the hand, led me to the couch, put my head on his shoulder, and patted me. I'll never forget that. "For a long, long time after the funeral, I didn't want to open my eyes when I woke up in the mornings because then I would know that it was real, that it had really happened. I grieved so much. Even now, all these years later, it's still hard to look at a picture of him for very long. I imagine what he would look like now, what he would be doing. People said it would get better over time, and it has, but it will never be the same. I've had to learn how to live in a different way. God's the one who got me through it all. I couldn't have made it without him. "Sometimes when I'm driving, I'll come to a stop light and look over and see somebody crying in next car. I remember when that was me, during the worst part of the grief over my son. I'd be sitting at a traffic light and people would be honking their horn at me to go, but I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. I try to be understanding and patient because you never know what another person's tears are for. When I see someone crying, I just stop right then and there and pray for them." 
"I like math and science, and I'm a straight-A student. After I get out of college, I want to be a teacher. Then I want to retire and become a basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder."  "Being a parent is nothing like I thought it would be. I have a 15-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, and every day is an adventure. Always something new. Raising a teenager is difficult, but I tell mine, 'Whatever you do reflects on you. Be a leader, not a follower.' I thank the Lord that he's not out there fighting. Both of my kids do what I say. I tell them, 'You know how to behave at home. Now be the same outside the house as you are inside the house.'" 
"I love her because she's my sister. We play Little Mermaids all the time. I can run fast, and I'm teaching her to run even faster than me." (Kamiyah, age 5) 
"My family owned a restaurant and lived above it when I was a little girl, and my great-grandmother lived with us. She was a very, very devout Christian. When my sister and I got home from school in the afternoons, she wouldn't let us go out and play; she made us stay inside, and she taught us to sew and crochet. She taught us proper etiquette too. I didn't appreciate it then, especially the crocheting, but I do now. My own children didn't care about that sort of thing growing up, but my daughter who is a medical physicist told me not long ago that she wants to learn to crochet. Both my granddaughters are interested now too, so I'm going to be able to pass it along after all."  "My mother always taught me to be a responsible young lady, to treat other people the way I want to be treated, to be kind, and to be my own boss. She had a big influence on me growing up." 
"When my grandson finished college and decided he wanted to get his Masters degree, he picked a school up in North Carolina, 900 miles from home. It cost me $1400 to carry him and his clothes and everything up there, but guess what - I flew up two years later to see him graduate, and he got an engineering job starting out at $65,000. Then he said, 'Granddaddy, I'm ready to start paying you back.' I said, 'For what? You did what I asked you to do. You don't owe me anything.' "Money's nice, but it's for helping people. It's not worth a nickel if you know somebody's in need and you don't want to help them. It doesn't have to be your family. It could be anybody. See here? You might have a pile of money this high when you're living, but when you die it's still going to be this high, and what good did it do? Money doesn't mean anything. I've had it, I've blown it, I've saved it, I've spent it. I don't know why people pile up money when there's a need. You got to help people with it."  |
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March 2021
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