The first time I spoke to Mr. James Traylor was on the phone in November 2016. The reason I remember is because I was at Vanderbilt just after Malachi had a heart catheter. He called me to introduce himself and boy did he get an ear-ful from me! Earlier that evening I had gotten a call from the principal of the school Hannah, Benjamin, and our foster son were attending. I had warned them that with Malach in the hospital our foster son might act out. She didn’t believe me. It turns out I was right and there was an altercation at school over a football game and “T” had been suspended and could not return to school the next day. The problem was I was not home, I was at Vanderbilt, which meant my Mom would have to deal with it and I wasn’t too sure that it was good or right to leave that with my Mom. So Mr. James heard all about it when he called. I’m not sure what his first impression of me was but he met the stressed out me on day one! Ha!
Over the weeks and months and years ahead Mr. James became a steady presence in our house. He tried to talk reason into children who had so much trauma that reason usually didn’t register, but he kept trying. He sat at our kitchen table for hours and hours talking to kids, listening to kids, talking to Daniel and I and always a calm, but firm presence in our house. There was more than one time I had to call him to come “rescue” me. One of those times was on the side of the road with a raging child, bent on hurting me and the other children in my car. Several times there were incidents at the house when someone had kicked a hole in the wall or just wouldn’t calm down. He tried to reason with screaming children over the phone and he answered the call no matter when, or where, or what he was doing, and he always came to help. I don’t call people crying often but one day I called Mr. James. I remember it clearly, I was pacing the backyard. I had just found a note written by a foster child and the note let me know my other kids weren’t safe. I loved this child but also needed to keep my other kids safe. I called Mr. James and I burst into tears and he said “what do you want me to do Mrs. Davis?” and I said “I don’t know, I don’t know what to do”. It wasn’t long before he was knocking on the door; there to help us sort this latest crisis out.
One day Daniel was out of town, I had a child that was threatening me, and the other 4 children in the house, with violence. It got so bad I locked the child outside. He was throwing scooters and anything he could find at the door because he was mad that we locked him out. However, I had to keep the other children safe. I called Mr. James and said you have to come get him, he is going to hurt someone. What I didn't know is that Mr. James was headed to the beach for a vacation. However, he turned his car around and headed straight towards our house. That was the first day I met his lovely wife, Mrs. Charlie. I apologized to her and thanked her and both of them for sacrificing part of their vacation as they drove off with “D” to take him to respite until Daniel got back from his trip.
That was not the last we saw of Mrs. Charlie. She later started work with Mr. James at our agency. She then took over his cases and she became our case manager. She also came in loving those kids and trying to manage them and reason with them. Not only did Mr. James and Mrs. Charlie care for our foster kids, they also cared for Hannah, Benjamin, and Malachi and took them under their wing. Mr. James got Benjamin an appointment at the barber shop that he went to so we could get his hair under control. Mrs. Charlie would come and get Hannah and take her to the beauty shop, or out to eat, or to go shopping. They didn’t have kids and they just took our kids up under their wings and cared for them. Mrs. Charlie always called Malachi “my little buddy” and she always asked how he was doing.
Not long after we got the little boys some changes took place at the agency and Mr. James and Mrs. Charlie moved on from working there. We missed them so much! Over the years we would see them here and there, maybe at a birthday party, a quick stop in to say “hi”, or a text or facebook message. I wish we had kept in touch better. One day almost 3 years ago Mr. James called me, Mrs. Charlie was so sick and in the hospital. I dropped everything and got up to the hospital as soon as I could! It was such a sweet reunion. I sat and talked to Mrs. Charlie and I was able to thank her again for loving our kids so well. I was able to talk to her about God and share encouragement with her in her time of sickness. I got to take Mr. James to the cafe and sit and talk with him and catch up on life. It was such a sweet time. We said we’d like to stay in touch and we did for a bit but then life happened and it has been awhile since I talked to them. Today Mr. James called to let me know that Mrs. Charlie passed away yesterday. We will miss her smile that lit up the room and her love for us and our kids and all kids. She will be missed and I know Mr. James now has a huge hole in his heart as he loved her dearly.
Some people you don’t have to know long for them to make a huge impact on your life. Mr. James and Mrs. Charlie sure made a huge impact on us and our kids and we are thankful that God placed them in our lives when He did! I’ve told Mr. James I don’t think we would have survived foster care if he were not walking along beside us. Well, done Mrs. Charlie, I pray you are resting with Jesus!
