James Michelle Jewelry

Jamie and her son Kaden

“Inspirational.  This is a word that I have been hearing alot of lately. My good friend Mandy told me one day “Jamie, your word right now is inspirational”.  I thought to myself, Could this really be true? Then I heard it again, then again.  A word that just 3 years ago, I did not think I would be.  James Michelle Jewelry was a little dream I had while laying in the back of my car with a picc line in my heart.  Just 3 years ago this Mother was homeless. I mean, it was not that I did not have places to stay but it was a month here, a month there.  I actually slept in the back of my old land rover one night in 30 degree weather.  Looking through my moonroof at the stars.  I wept and prayed. As I laid there bundled up in my blankets weeping.  I cried out to God…Please help me!  I wanted to give up. Throw the towel in.  I was very ill with Lyme disease, a nasty illness caused from the bite of a tick.  How did my life end up this way?  What did I do to deserve this?

It all began 6 years ago, I came down with a Mystery illness, undiagnosed for months, I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.  Six months later, My Father and my Mother died two months apart. I was a Mother to my little baby boy Kaden.  My husband six months later tells me that, “he just can’t do it anymore.”  I had become so sick that I was having massive seizures, stabbing pain, and neurological problems.   It was then I had an intravenous picc line placed into my heart and underwent IV treatment for a year.  I was all alone.  In a matter of 6 months, I lost my Mother, my Father, and my Husband.  Oh, and my child as I was too ill to care for him.  The treatment was grueling, it was hour to hour, minute to minute.  I did not want to live anymore. Ambulance rides, needles, and seizures were an everyday part of my life. The illness was so hard but when people ask, “What is the worst part of Lyme disease?”  I tell them, “it was being alone.”  I literally would fall to my knees crying out to God to help me or to end me.  I think I cried more tears that year than I did in my entire life.

Back to the sleeping in the back of my car looking up to the stars part of the story.  I had a thought. What if I made jewelry?  I could possibly do it from my bedside.  That week, a friend bought me a little cheap handstamping set and few materials.  Every day, even if it was for a minute, I would get up and make something.  I started posting stuff on Facebook and opened a small etsy store.  Today, James Michelle Jewelry is a fast growing successful business that I believe saved my life.  One necklace, one dream, one prayer…. saved my life.  As I look back to 3 years ago, I cannot believe what I have accomplished.  I have a home, I have my child, I have a wonderful boyfriend. I feel happy, safe, and stable.  I still deal with Lyme but it does not define me anymore.  I want my story to inspire others.  To know that anything is possible. And when your 7 year old comes home from school and says, “Mom, you’re a total gangster.”  You can say,  “You have know idea how gangster Mommy really is.” 🙂 xoxo jamie”