"My family is very close. We spend holidays together, and every summer we take a trip to our family reunion. You never know when it might be the last time you'll ever see a person, so we try to stay close throughout the year. If I have a problem or there's any trouble, I can call my Nana or my uncle and that helps me get things off my mind. Reading the Bible helps too. When I focus on God, it gets rid of the stress. Things happen, but you know, this world is not our home."
“As a TV and news producer for going on 13 years, I’ve covered all kinds of stories---refugee issues, terrorist attacks, crime, so many things---and each one has changed me. Some of the stories that stand out most in my mind have involved human trafficking. I was researching high-end brothels in Bombay, but I wanted to find out about street prostitution too, so I just hung out in a red light district for a few days. Once people got used to seeing me and realized I wasn’t a threat, they started talking. The women there were selling their bodies for ten cents (in Indian currency), but they were so poor that even that little bit of money was very important to them. The reality of the situation hit me hard when a guy came up to a woman I had just been talking with, and she quoted him a price of twenty cents. He said no. She said, ‘I’ll do it for ten.’ He said no again. So she said, ‘Okay, 5 cents.’ Five cents? Five cents won’t get you anything in India! I thought, ‘Oh my! What people are going through!’ I saw children as young as two years old being trafficked in some areas, and that really affected me. I was depressed, irritable and moody for months afterward. You can’t do those kinds of stories and remain the same person. “There was another instance when I went undercover as a volunteer in a clinical trial. We met a lot of families whose main source of income was participating in clinical studies. Safety guidelines and controls are not as strict in India, so it’s easier for pharmaceutical companies to do trials there. It doesn’t cost them much either. Volunteers who are paid as little as $20 or $50 end up losing their lives, and the government doesn’t do anything to protect them. The company just shrugs it off and says, ‘We told them the risks, they signed the waiver, that’s it.’ People are so desperate for money that they'll do almost anything. “My parents back in India don’t know exactly what I do. They know I travel a lot and work on news stories, but I don’t ever tell them the details. There’s no point in worrying them. Why would I tell them, ‘I got kidnapped by a mob yesterday’? Or why would I tell them about being right in the middle of the 2008 Mombai terrorist attacks at the Taj Hotel? I don’t bring up those kinds of things with my mom and dad. “Before I was married (three and a half years ago), I didn’t really worry about my personal safety. I didn’t even think about it. But now that I’m married, I think, ‘Wait a second---what if something happens to me?’ I don’t know if I’ve gotten more fearful or more responsible, but with marriage, things change. I try to avoid the more dangerous stories now. It’s always there though. Some part of me misses the action. I’ll do a story like that if it comes to me, but I’m not actively seeking it out anymore. I don’t know what I’ll say the next time that kind of opportunity comes along, but I know I’ll think twice before I take it. I have someone besides myself to think about now.” "I have produced many news stories and documentaries for NBC News, including some Dateline investigations, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic, CNN, Nick News, BBC etc. I've also directed and produced commercials and corporate films for FedEx, Microsoft, Visa, Goldman Sachs etc. I produced the India episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (I was also featured in that episode), Half the Sky with Nick Kristof for PBS, etc. I was part of the White House Press Corps during President Obama's visit to Asia both in 2010 and more recently in January 2015. I recently moved to Memphis for family reasons and have cut down a little bit on my international assignments. Instead of traveling for 11 months in a year, I travel for just 6 months! I hope to make good friends here and learn new things." Video: Anthony Bourdain & Uday Sripathi at India-Pakistan Border Uday Sripathi, TV and News Producer
"If people around me are making the wrong decision, I state my opinion, say why I think it's the wrong thing to do, and leave it at that. People are going to do what they're going to do, but I don't have to go along with it. I just walk away. I know if I do the wrong thing, God and my family will get me. I was raised with older siblings and my parents are older, so whenever I act silly, they look at me like 'What are you doing?!' I was always expected to have good judgment. I think that if you're faced with a decision between doing the right thing or the wrong thing, you have to look at the consequences of each path and choose the one you can deal with. People can overcome mistakes, but it's hard. If you're going the wrong way, the best thing to do is just change direction. The wrong direction will lead you off the cliff.
"After high school, I'm planning to go into mechanical engineering. I'd like to work for FedEx as an aircraft engineer someday." "During the summer of my eighth grade year, I attended a week-long ACE program at Wooddale High School, which teaches about different career paths in aviation and aerospace. That's where my interest in aviation started. I got so much information and learned so much that I was given an award at the end of the week: The ACE of All ACEs. I was inspired by the pilots and other aerospace professionals they brought in. That week they took us flying. There was an pilot right beside me, but I got to sit at the controls. I was scared to death, but it was so much fun that after we got back on the ground, I wanted to go up again and again. I liked the thrill and the excitement. I'm taking flying lessons now to get my hours in, and I'll take the test to get my pilot's license when I turn 17. "When I finish high school, I'm planning to go to Tuskegee University where I'll enroll in the ROTC Air Force program. After college, I plan to go into the Air Force, where I'll be able to start as a 2nd Lieutenant. I want something that will challenge me, and I think the Air Force will do that. I hope that someday I'll be flying fighter jets. "People ask me, 'What's your Plan B?' I don't have a Plan B. This is it. This is what I want to do, and I'm going to do what it takes to make it happen. One day, I'd like to start an aviation program for youth so I can give back the way the ACE program has given to me."
“I was terrified of being a mom in the beginning, but it’s been such an unbelievable joy. Whatever Sam’s into, I get excited about: bulldozers, trains, farm animals. When I saw him come into the world, I felt like my heart could explode. And now, watching him grow and change---it’s a feeling I just can’t explain. He’s been God’s greatest blessing to me. I was at the end of my first trimester with him when my dad died unexpectedly. He was coming home from a trip, got really sick along the way, and two days later he was gone. No matter what age you are when you lose a parent, it really hurts. I’m just so glad he knew that a baby was on the way and that he could share that joy with us. Sam’s middle name is James, after my dad. I think his birth was the light of God shining in and helping me get through that loss. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. He came at just the right time, when I really needed anchoring. If I could speak one thing into the world, it would be: The Lord provides.”
“I started out as a political science major but switched fields because I really love working with Alzheimer's and dementia patients. I’ve always found it so interesting. I remember one Alzheimer patient from those early years, a little lady with blonde hair and the biggest blue eyes you’ve ever seen. She came up to me one day and said, ‘Something’s wrong with me, but I don’t know what it is.’ And she started crying. I said, ‘You know, there’s something wrong with me too.’ That made her laugh. Yes, they’re sick and they need help, but they’re just like you and me. They’re still people, they can have a great quality of life, and you can learn so much from them. They’re so honest. Their filter is down, so they don’t have the ability to lie to you or give you this song and dance. They’re going to give it to you straight. “My grandmother had Alzheimer’s, and the first time she didn’t recognize me, I just broke down and cried. She raised me as a little girl, and when she called me by my mom’s name---she had never done that---I knew something was wrong. Even though I had been in the field for many years by that time, when it’s YOUR family, YOUR grandmother, it’s like, Wow, how do you deal with that? I had to accept it, but it was so hard. She was still Grandma, and I could still have a great relationship with her, but I had to accept her where she was. She had taken care of us, and now it was our turn to take care of her. “Alzheimer's patients may have no recollection of having children. If you ask them how old they are, they may say 23, 24, or 25 because that’s where their mind goes with the disease. When they talk about going home, they’re not talking about the home where they raised their family. They mean the home they grew up in as a child. They’ll ask where their mom or dad is. They may not recognize themselves in a mirror either. That's why we don't have any here, because they'll look in a mirror, see this old lady and they’re like, ‘Who is this? I’m 23 years old.’ “We work with families to help them understand what’s happening, how to accept the changes in their loved one, and how to deal with the day-to-day challenges. One thing we tell them is, Let Mom do as much as she can do by herself. If she can still get herself dressed, then let her do it. So what if she has her clothes on backward or inside out? Who cares? You have to pick your battles. There are more bad days than good days, but to me, the good days always outweigh the bad. We may have a whole week of Mom using the bathroom on herself, not knowing who we are, and not wanting to take her medication, but that one day or those couple of hours when she is lucid and can remember something make it all worthwhile. “The atmosphere here is like a community center. We encourage our friends, as we call them, to participate in conversation, music, art, games, exercise, and field trips. We encourage them to walk and feed themselves as long as they’re able. One friend rolls silverware into napkins, sets the lunch table, and pours water and juice every day. She thinks of it as her job, and it really does help us out. She even calls in if she's not coming to 'the school' that day. Like anybody else, she wants to feel needed and useful. “I think being in this field has helped me to be more patient and more compassionate. You never know when you may be in the position of having Alzheimer’s or dementia and need someone to be compassionate and loving toward you. You wouldn’t want someone to call you crazy or make you feel bad about something you don’t even recognize is wrong with you. Working with the elderly has been my passion since I was 19 years old. I love it.” Conversation starters: Napkins (with silverware) rolled and ready for lunchtime: Sara Thompson, Site / Program Coordinator
Website: Alzheimer's Day Services of Memphis, Inc. (non-profit organization) FB: Alzheimer's Day Services of Memphis Related article from Purple Elephant: 16 Things I Would Want, If I Got Dementia ANGEL: "We've been married for 18 years, but we've known each other since elementary school. From the beginning, I liked his personality, the way he carried himself, and how he respected women. We have children ranging from 8 months old to 18 years old, and they're all active in church: ushering, sewing, and attending Bible school. It keeps them occupied, off the streets, and out of trouble. I love being a mom and doing what a real mom does for her children. I love to give too. If I can't give, that's what would hurt me the most."
KIRSTEN: "She has a good heart, and I love her so much." "My grandfather taught me the meaning of being a man. He also taught me the meaning of discipline, that a little tap on the booty doesn't mean you don't love your child. You discipline a child because you do love him. He taught me that just because you're from the hood, it doesn't mean you have to BE hood."
“I started playing violin when I was 8 years old. Both my grandfathers were fiddlers, so I was the designated classical musician of the family. At first, we just had group recitals, but when I was 12, the teacher had us do solos. I was playing a pretty emotional piece for my first recital, and I guess I was embarrassed for my parents to see me ‘emoting’, so I wouldn’t let them come. They dropped my brother and me off and picked us up afterward. They came to all the other recitals, but not that first one. I still get nervous when I perform, but only about music I really care about. “If you want to learn to play, know what your goal is; it helps you to have reasonable expectations. When I was taught, it was with the idea that all the students would go on to become professionals, but that’s not everyone’s intention. I teach violin, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar three or four days a week, and sometimes retirees come in and say, ‘I’ve always wanted to learn to fiddle.’ That’s their aim, and we go from there. I want people to enjoy the instrument and for them to achieve the goals they’ve set for themselves. “I played with the Orpheum Theater Orchestra for 18 years and have played with the Memphis Symphony off and on. I also do recordings and play with a string quartet and with country and rock and roll bands. It takes a lot of time to learn to play well. Performers make it look easy, so people don’t realize how much practice goes into it. That’s true of all the arts. If you purchase a portrait that an artist has done, you are purchasing their time, their training, and their experience. It’s not just that one painting or that one song. It’s everything behind it.” From the Circle Music Center: Roy Brewer was awarded a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Memphis in 1996. He is currently a part-time instructor at the University and is a freelance musician. Besides recording with many major label artists, his performance credits also include the Conan O’Brien Show; Austin City Limits; Later, with Jools Hollond (BBC); and his fiddle can be heard on the sound track for the motion picture Black Snake Moan. His research on Southern music has been published in the academic journals Popular Music, American Music, Popular Music and Society, and The Smithsonian Inst. Scholarly Press. Roy plays more instruments than any of us know how to play, and teaches guitar, violin, and mandolin. Roy Brewer teaches at Circle Music Center, 5124 Poplar Ave
BIO: http://circlemusiccenter.com/roy-brewer Phone: 901-937-8484 Email: violinroy@yahoo.com |
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