Blog Archives

John

8/31/2016

“I can’t stand to see animals abused and neglected, but any place where there’s blight and empty houses, you’ll see dogs. I’ve been rescuing them for 31 years now, and I couldn’t begin to count how many I’ve caught and turned over to rescue groups. I’m the dogcatcher of last resort. I don’t get paid for it; I don't make a dime. I just do because I don’t want animals to suffer. I’ve gone out in ice storms; I’ve gone when I had to have somebody watch my back so I wouldn’t get shot. If a rescue group can’t catch a dog, they’ll call me, and I’ll help if I can. There are so many though, that I won’t do it unless somebody from the group agrees to meet me, shows me where the dog is, and can guarantee me there’s a place for it to go once it’s caught. Around Easter time I trapped a mama dog that was living under an abandoned house---a crack house---then crawled under the house and extricated her seven babies. The last two pups of that litter, Skip and Molly, are going to be adopted out within the next couple of weeks. There was another one I rescued from a trailer park last year; she was in agony, burning up with mange, one of the most miserable dogs I’ve ever seen. It took about a month to get her, but I finally did, and she has a loving home now. The woman who took her in sent me an update at Christmas time, with her sitting by the tree looking fat and healthy and beautiful. It’s great when things turn out that way.

“Pit bull mixes are the most common dog I end up rescuing in Memphis. People get them because they think they can breed them for money. Then when it comes down to paying their bills or taking care of their dogs, the dogs get turned out on the street to fend for themselves. If they’re not smart, they won’t last a week. If they are, then it’s because they’ve learned who and what to stay away from. There are probably 5,000 dogs on the streets of Memphis right now with nowhere to go, doing nothing wrong, just looking for something to eat.

“Most dogs people call feral were abused and would rather live on their own than trust another human. These animals need to be in the care of rescue groups. Some of them can be fostered and adopted; others never will be. There needs to be a better relationship between the local animal shelter and rescue groups. We could save a lot more dogs if there were. If you know of an animal that needs help, post on the Lost and Found Pets of the Mid-South FB page, include a photo, and ask for a rescue to step up.”

Waylon (below), father of the Easter litter, was the first of the family of nine to be trapped and rescued (image courtesy of John Henry)

Rosie (below), mama of the Easter litter, is a completely wild dog. "Her only show of any type of affection," says John, "is to tenderly and lovingly lick water off my hand after I have filled her water bowl. Any other human touch is treated as though I have poured hot water onto her back. Human touch is completely foreign to her. She is quite a bit better about trusting me now, but is nowhere near as trusting as she needs to be. I have never before felt so karmically responsible for an animal as this one." (image courtesy of John Henry)

John with Daisy (below), one of the pups from the Easter litter, a few minutes before she left for a permanent home. "She was my favorite," says John. "I was trying---unsuccessfully---not to cry." (image courtesy of John Henry)

Filo (below) had been on the streets for four years before he was rescued. Because he still suffers the aftereffects of abuse from his younger days, he is aggressive at times and not adoptable. He now makes his home with John in the countryside. (image courtesy of John Henry)

BACK TO HOME

Susan

8/30/2016

“My father grew up on a farm in China and didn’t even have shoes until he was a teenager. The Communists said they would send him to a boarding school to get an education, but it turned out to be hard labor at the rail yard mills. He was starving; they all were. All he had to eat was sweet potatoes, which he won’t touch to this day. Other people ate bark, he said, which isn’t food, but they were trying to stay alive. When he was 25 years old, he caught a southbound train to try to escape the situation, but he and others were forced off before they had gotten far. He walked nonstop for fourteen hours, spent the night in a paupers’ cemetery, and started out again the next day. When he finally reached a relatively large village, he found a place to sleep among the hundreds of other travelers. He continued to walk, and he remembers that as he got closer to Hong Kong, he passed a stream filled with the bloated bodies of those who had died along the way. When he reached the border crossing, he and his fellow travelers were greeted by armed guards and attack dogs. The understanding was that if you were caught trying to enter Hong Kong, you could be sent back, but if you made it past the guards and into the city limits, you would be granted citizenship. That morning my father hid from the border patrol, sneaked into the city, and remained in hiding for several hours until he felt it was safe. In Hong Kong he started a new life.

“My father told me this story when I interviewed him for a paper I wrote for an Asian history course. It was a hard conversation because our family doesn’t do emotions. We don’t really hug or talk about things. He said his own father had left the family during World War II, and he thought that he’d been abandoned. But as an adult living in Hong Kong, he found out that his father had never made it out of the country; he had probably been killed by Japanese soldiers. My mom grew up in the city of Hong Kong during the war. She had to quit school when she was in third grade because she had to help raise her four younger brothers and sisters.

“I think about my dad and all he went through just to survive, and it’s hard to talk about without crying. How do you find your way without GPS? How do you go anywhere without a cell phone? How do you leave your home and not know where you’re going? I can’t even go to Nashville without GPS. But my father took that first big chance and then continued to take chances to make life better for the family. It was just what you did; you didn’t even think about it. You just went. You left everything behind, which is really hard; I can’t imagine it. Because of him and his experiences, I feel for the refugees who are fleeing their home countries now with no food to eat, no place to live, and no idea where they’re going. War changes everything; it doesn’t matter when it is.”

BACK TO HOME

Peri

8/29/2016

"Spending eight months photographing people with special needs has been a good experience. In the beginning they were a little wary of me, but as I came around every single week, it got better and better. They all started remembering me and were excited to see me. They were all so kind. I learned their different personalities, their favorite things to do, their favorite things to hold onto, and I was able to bring some of those interests into the images I took. Many of them don’t get their photos made very often, so this was kind of a big deal to them. At my first show [at SRVS], just about all of their families showed up, and I was told they were planning to be here tonight as well. I hope the photos serve as an invitation to get to know these and other people with special needs a little better. I hope that people will look at their faces and be happy. I hope they smile."

Some of Peri's work with the SRVS community:

Peri Gildersleeve's work is on exhibit at Playhouse on the Square, 66 Cooper Street, through September 11, 2016.

BACK TO HOME

Ephie

8/28/2016

“My grandmother, Ora May Benjamin put a lot of time into who I am. She sewed our clothes, she cooked our meals, she taught me what it meant to work hard, what it meant to be excellent in whatever you did. As she got a little older and her arthritis began to be a real challenge for her and she couldn’t walk as well, she could still use her hands. She would just take a little more time to sew that dress. She made everything I wanted. My mother was the same way. You could show her in a book, she would cut the pattern out of newspaper and make the clothes, and they would fit like they were custom tailored. She inspired me because she had a creative perspective. She used what she had, and she made it work. Gosh, I think about going home and the bread pudding that she would make. I’d say, ‘What did you put in this bread pudding? It’s so good.’ And she’d say, ‘We had some hot dog buns and this loaf of bread left.’ She made masterpieces out of what was left over. She taught me a lot about what it means to survive and thrive. Just because you don’t have it all together---every part in place, every ingredient, every academic, accomplishment---none of those things mattered when it came to ‘Can I get the job done?’ She worked it out. She figured it out.

"I have to say this: They laugh at me in the office because I keep everything right here, but Grandmamma had a little pocket safety-pinned in her bosom. When I needed something and Mama said, ‘We can’t do it right now’, Grandmamma said, ‘Wait a minute, baby’ and she’d pull a little money out of that pocket. She taught me to reserve, to think. Those are things we can’t forget: the things that got us over. Those are the things that established who we are today. But now we run from those things. We shun them. We laugh at them, as though those things that Grandmamma did were not important or not relevant to the needs we have today. There’s nothing new under the sun. My needs are no different. Those types of things inspired me. Grandmamma always had a few crackers, some Cheetos, a little piece of candy, and some Coca-Cola in her drawer, and guess what she did. She said, ‘You know, we could sell this’, and she became a candy lady. We talk about the candy lady, but the candy lady was important. When she got too old to be the candy lady, guess who was the candy girl? Me. My daddy took me to Purity Products on Jackson on Saturday mornings. When his baby said, ‘I need some more Lemonheads’, he made it his business to get me what I needed. Those things influenced who I am today. The people who work with me know that I’ll eat sardines, tuna fish, ramen noodles, whatever I’ve got to do, and keep on trucking, because I know I can get a steak one day. It’s about doing what I have to do to get to where I’m trying to go. My grandmother taught me that. My daddy taught me that. That’s what our children are missing.

"People in poverty are missing those influences. We’re trying to survive and get by, and no one’s teaching us how to plan and prepare for when things don’t go well. Why? For so many people, every day is traumatic; it’s always a crisis, always an emergency. How do we change the face of poverty? We’ve got to begin to bring back some of the standards and the things we used to do to help people understand: There’s a way. You don’t have to do it like this. There’s a better way."

“If you want to make a difference in our society, find the people who need you most. Don’t just rise by clawing your way to the top. Help the least of these, wherever they are. You don’t have to go find a mission field. There are folks who need your help where you work. If you’ll just begin to love them, lives can change. People don’t love each other anymore. We use people. We have acquaintances. We buy a house with a garage because we don’t want to talk to anybody next door. When I drive up to the house and the garage door closes down, I don’t have to talk to you. People don’t know their neighbors. Nobody’s connected to anybody else they live around.

"So what can we do to make a difference in our community? Connect with somebody in your sphere of influence who needs you and be willing to invest your time. It takes time to change people; it took time to change you. It’s easier for me not to have relationships. I prefer not to tell anybody what I’m doing and go on and do it by myself because it hurts too much if the relationship goes a little sour. But if you’re willing to sacrifice yourself and love somebody who needs to be loved, move them forward and really invest yourself in one or two people a time until that season is up, you’ll make a difference. Help them become their very best, but start where they are. We want them to know how to coordinate the outfit, go to the mall and shop for themselves, when we need to begin with trying to show them how to tie their shoelaces; more so, the focus shouldn't be on the outward at all. Self worth, a strong work ethic, and a positive moral compass should be the priority. A ready mind and willing heart is a good place to start. But so many times those we want to help do not have the same standard or background, so it must be modeled for them. YOU have to start with the basics. YOU have to help them be their best selves, starting with what they are and where they are right now.”

Ephie Johnson, President and CEO, Neighborhood Christian Centers
Website: http://ncclife.org/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/NCCIncorporated

BACK TO HOME

Cara

8/27/2016

"I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, surrounded by mountains, and that experience stays with me always, wherever I am. Every Sunday morning when I was a child, we drove out to a tiny country church where generations of our family had gone before. My sister and I sat with my great-uncle and my great-aunt in the back pew; my uncle always had M&Ms for us in his pockets. Afterwards, we played in the cemetery and then spent the afternoons on my grandparents’ or great-uncle’s farm, driving the tractor, chasing the barn cats, visiting the sheep, playing with books and toys that my father had played with as a child. It was wonderful.

"My mother was the church organist, my father sang sometimes, and my first love of music came out of that little country church. I can still remember hearing those voices, with that strong and wonderful Appalachian mountain / valley timbre coming through. That music shaped me. It was part of my Sundays, part of my week, and part of what I inherited.

"As I learned to play the piano myself, my mother told me, You have to listen very hard if you’re accompanying someone else. You have to listen to where they breathe and where they get soft or loud. I found that I loved those musical conversations more so than solo work. I studied piano over the years, eventually majored in music in college, and have worked in that field all of my life. Her advice has stayed with me and informed not only my music, but my writing and teaching as well. It is so important to pay attention, to really listen. Listening can build bridges and help us cross the lines that divide us, whether those lines are racial, religious, or political. Those conversations can bring us together.

"Just as the music in that tiny church was deeply rooted in history and a sense of place, so the music of Memphis is reflective of this city. I’ve lived here for two years; I’ve been fortunate to play classical music in Memphis, and I’ve been fortunate to hear its blues. As much as I know Beale Street has changed over the years, there’s still so much good music there. I can just walk down the street and hear it through doorway after doorway. I’ve been reminded that people equate ‘singing the blues’ with sadness, but blues music isn’t just about sadness; it’s about joy in sadness. It’s amazing music. Organic. Real. There’s an emotional immediacy to it. It’s not easy music, and it’s not fluffy music. It’s hard to do. But there’s nothing like those voices. I love Memphis. Not despite its challenges or complexity, but inclusive of those things. No person is entirely good or bad or happy or sad or anything, and neither is a city like Memphis. It’s why my heart breaks sometimes, but it’s also why I feel overjoyed sometimes. It’s all here. Music can root you to the place you’re in but it can also bring you back to places that you’re far away from. I was walking past Celtic Crossing one evening and heard bluegrass and Irish music. I just stood there on the sidewalk and cried. It sounded like my mountains."

BACK TO HOME

Marquiesha

8/26/2016

"In December, I'm going to Ghana with a group of fifteen high school students who are involved in the One Step Initiative program. I'm very excited. It will be my first time to travel internationally and my first time to fly. I want to see how other people live, learn about their backgrounds, and see the kinds of foods they eat. I read a quote once that said, 'If you don't travel, you only read one page of a book in life.' I think that's true. If you only stay in one spot, you don't know how the rest of the world lives. I see a lot of young guys who don't know anything except violence, because that's what they've grown up around. I think if they had the chance to see the world, they would know there are other ways to live. You see things in a different way when you travel; you start to think differently. After I finish my education, I want to come back to my home community help other young people have the same opportunity to travel that I'm going to have."

BACK TO HOME

Shahab - Iran

8/25/2016

"I moved to America---to Memphis---in 2006, and the biggest surprise to me was the diversity here. Even though Memphis isn't a large city, I saw people from a lot of different countries and backgrounds. It's not like that in Iran, so that was the first thing I really noticed. It made me feel comfortable to see that I wasn't the only one here from someplace else. People from other countries are accepted in Memphis, and it makes us want to relate and become involved."

BACK TO HOME

Lei, Zheng, & Angela - China

8/24/2016

"The thing I like best about being a father is that every time I come home from work, my little girl shouts, 'Daddy's back!' and lets me hold her and play with her. I love that. I think it's important to teach her right from wrong and help her learn to do the right thing, but she's two years old now, and all she wants to say is 'No, no, no!'"

BACK TO HOME

Nadine - Palestine

8/23/2016

"I haven’t had anything happen to me personally---I was born and raised in Memphis and have always dressed like a typical American in jeans and T-shirts---but I have family and close friends who wear traditional Palestinian clothing and have been discriminated against over and over. I’ve heard it, I’ve seen it, and it’s not an experience I would wish on anyone. Nobody should have to go through something like that. Judging a person by the way they look or how they dress is a very unloving and uncaring thing to do. It’s not fair and it’s not right. I’ve seen friends and family respond to other people's negative behavior by being polite and trying to show that we represent love and peace and decency. We’re human, we’re good people, we’re fun and loving, and we’re somebody people should get to know."

BACK TO HOME

Preeti - India

8/22/2016

“The strong ties we have with family---the family values---are very important to pass on to our children. In India, it doesn’t matter how old we are, our elderly parents live with us and we take care of them. That’s one thing I miss here: not being able to take care of my parents. They still live in India because they like it there and are more comfortable in known surroundings. I make it a point to take the kids back during the summer holidays so that they have the experience of being with their grandparents and can know what life is like there.

“Both of my children were born here. I’m not really scared that they will lose their culture or their language, but I just feel that it’s a little difficult for them. My daughter is two years old and loves to wear Indian clothes, but my son is ten. He wants to fit in with his American friends because that's who he identifies with, but I cannot always empathize or put myself in his shoes. Even today, I wanted him to wear an Indian outfit, and he refused. I have to decide how hard to push because I don’t want him to say, ‘No, never.’ Maybe we make things too difficult for him because we want to celebrate all of the festivals. He has questions about everything we do, and sometimes I don’t have the answers. I didn’t question my own parents about why we did certain things. It was just a way of life.”

BACK TO HOME

<<Previous