Jackson Free Press

Taylor Jane Hodges, 9, will introduce you to her goldfish: Bob, Billy, Katy and Samantha. She will perform tricks for you on her swing-set. She will tell you every last thing she got for Christmas. In many ways, Taylor is almost indistinguishable from any other 9-year-old girl, but in just as many ways she is not.

Talking with Taylor, it's easy to forget her age. She speaks with enthusiasm and zeal on any subject. She demonstrates the sense of humor of a person years her senior. She gives you her card. Her mom, Cindy Eldridge, says she's one of the most compassionate people she knows. It's easy to predict the type of person Taylor will be in 20 years and easy to understand why she's a junior Jacksonian.

Taylor is a visible part of the community at Wells Methodist Church, a young influential even—whether she's singing in the children's choir, helping to take up the offering or sitting in the pews. "I think I've been going to Wells my whole life," she says, "That's where I got baptized. My mommy was scared I was going to throw up on Pastor Keith because I was a reflux baby, but I didn't." Taylor's mom, who first began attending Wells in 1992, says that "until Taylor was 1 year old she would throw up almost five times a day … we didn't make it to church that often for the first year. "Fortunately, Taylor's system regulated, and she's been involved with the community at Wells ever since.

Taylor says her favorite part of church is the music. "We sing a lot of good songs," she says. She also enjoys listening to Keith Tonkel's sermons. "They have a room where you can hear the sermon through a speaker," she says, "sometimes I like to listen to the sermons in there."

This year, Taylor is a third-grader at Casey Elementary. She loves school "because you get to learn and have fun at the same time." Her favorite teacher is Ms. Gee, but she tries to do her best in every subject. Taylor says she "made straight As in first and second grade" and plans to do just as well this year.

Taylor's favorite activities include gymnastics, ballet, soccer, Spanish, playing guitar and, most recently, poker. "Her cousins taught her how to play, I had nothing to do with it," says her mother. "She loves it." For Christmas, Taylor got a poker table-top and is now busy teaching all of her friends to play. "I think I know every kind of poker," Taylor says. "Too bad I'm not 21."