Miss Ida Miranda James was a Bermudian who was all about Bermuda. She was passionate about her work and passionate about what happened to Bermuda and Bermudians from all walks of life.She lived, ate, breathed Bermuda and what would make “her” Bermuda a better place.She was always encouraging others to excel. She was very compassionate and easy to talk to. She had the rare ability to put you immediately at ease and gain your confidence even if she had never met you before. Maybe it was that innocent looking quality she possessed. Maybe it was her warm smile and genuineness. …. She could certainly get to the bottom of a story in a heartbeat.This quiet, unassuming, humble woman of high moral values was extremely knowledgeable in her own right. She made it her life's work to become knowledgeable and proficient in a number of areas outside her professional life. Having acquired this knowledge, she readily shared it. She truly hid her light under a bushel.She was extremely intelligent and had a thirst for knowledge an inquiring mind.I always felt that if she had not been the great dedicated social worker she was, she would have made a formidable advocate, detective or private investigator. She definitely displayed the “skill set” to have been formidable in any of these areas and many more.She was very familyoriented and loved her family dearly.Despite the passage of nearly time since the brutal slaying of my late friend, Miss Ida Miranda James, it is still difficult to come to terms with the fact that she was snatched from us in Bermuda in such a horrible way in the prime of her life. I was in shock when I heard the news having spoken to her maybe minutes, at the most, hours before this dastardly, un-Bermudian act.Although we became very good friends and so remained for a long time, were it not for fate or destiny, we may never have met. Late afternoon one Holy Thursday many years, I was assigned to take over and complete an adoption of a child by a Bermudian couple.The date was for the adoption to be heard was imminent and the file was in a state of unpreparedness. As I reviewed the papers quickly I realised we had a serious problem. Time was limited. The file was not straight forward rather I would describe it as complex and there was a lot of work to be done. I sighed deeply but I did not stay down for long. I could not. There was urgent work to be done. Out the window went my plans for a nice, relaxing Easter weekend! I realised that I would definitely have to work on Easter weekend preparing the file and necessary documentation.I also realised we could not succeed without co-operation of the Department of Family Services. So despite the late hour, I asked in my office whom I could call at Family Services to get some help at that hour. Staff in my office thought I was crazy as it was close to closing time on Holy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, but I pressed on nevertheless. I consulted the list of Government office telephone numbers in the office, and immediately telephoned that Department, explained my plight and asked would a social worker be available for me to speak to over the weekend?The receptionist at Family Services took my call and said most of the staff had already left for the day. I persuaded her to check around the office to see if there was anyone still there could possibly assist me. She put me on hold and after what seemed like an interminable length of time, a woman came on the line agreeing to be available to assist me over the Easter weekend.She identified herself as Ida James, readily gave me her home telephone number and agreed to assist me with whatever I wanted to know over the weekend. I thanked her, explaining that the adoptee would be too old if we missed the scheduled court date which was imminent. I knew that Miss James was not the adoption officer and I realised that she must be a very special person, dedicated to her job and to serving her community to have stepped forward as she had. I had not met her prior to this. I again thanked her very much. We chatted for a short while and I hung up relieved that I would be able to get the necessary work done for my clients on this case in the short time we had left to wrap things up. So began an association which later turned into a friendship which has spanned decades.Not only was Miss Ida James not the adoption officer (though she knew the procedure from having worked in the Department for many years), she was a senior social worker in the Family Services Department. I was very impressed by her dedication. Needless to say, I consulted with my clients on the Easter Saturday and did speak to Miss James over the Easter weekend at her home. She was very generous with her time and input. I duly prepared the documents over the weekend and was ready to go first thing on the Monday after Easter.My clients and the adoptee were overjoyed to hear that their case was being sorted out after all. Their anxiety level had subsided. They personally thanked Miss James for her generosity and dedication as, without her input, it was “touch and go” whether the adoption would go through due to the inherent difficulties of the case and the time constraints. I can honestly say without Miss Ida Miranda James' having so generously made herself and her time available on a long public holiday weekend, this Bermudian family would not have realised their dream of adopting this child.The family concerned spoke well about her for many years after that.Bear in mind that up to then, Miss James and I had not met personally. To her I was just a voice on the end of the line an attorney who cared enough about her client to persuade Family Services to work on a long, public holiday weekend. That Easter weekend came and went and I had still not put a face to the name as the assistance I needed on Easter weekend was readily given over the telephone.I never did collaborate “officially” with Miss James on any matter in her Department as the type of cases I handled for various clients over the years were not under her jurisdiction.Nevertheless, over the years I would hear people in the community speak well of her and eventually we met personally sometime later.From time to time, I would hear persons say how she helped turn their lives around and how she stayed with their case long after they had passed out to the system.I would hear people praise her for having inculcated the values of self help and resourcefulness in her clients as they extolled her virtues in the community teaching them how to make do with little. She was practical. Her fans described her as persistent, caring, kind and “one in a million”. She was the single parents' dream often helping them to get through the lean times with very little money to put food on the table for the young ones developing and implementing innovative ways and strategies to get by on very little.Miss James and I shared many common interests including civic or community service.If there was one thing I wish she had done it was take care of herself better or sufficiently. She was always putting others and their welfare before hers.Despite having a few health issues recently, she was cheerful. She seemed to be on the road to recovery and was ready to take life on fully when she was cut down tragically.She was a real trouper.Rest in peace, my friend.