"Nothing can ever take away
The love a heart holds dear.
Fond memories linger every day
Remembrance keeps you near."
James Patrick Bulger was murdered by two 10 ten year old boys on February 12, 1993.
On 16 March 1990, James Patrick Bulger entered this world a healthy, bouncing baby boy, full of life and energy right from the start. He was the second child of Ralph and Denise Bulger, though their first, a daughter, was stillborn. James was the light of his parents' lives.
The Bulgers lived in a flat in Kirkby, Merseyside, where the majority of their family and friends also resided, thus, James was never without a playmate. Those who were closest to James while he lived, cherish those memories of the happy times they spent with him.
"Ralph would throw him right up to the ceiling, playing with him, and James would love it," recalled Grandmother Helen. "It would make me scream and say, 'You'll drop him!', but James would shout 'Again, again!'"
"He was into all kinds of things," Ralph remembered, his responses an alloy of pain and pleasure as he reflected on the happier times spent with his young son. "I used to push him up a hill near here and let him roll down in his go-cart. He loved that. James was a cracking little boy."
As James grew older, Denise carted him everywhere with her. Some mothers enjoy an occasional "breather" from the ties of parenthood, time reserved only for themselves, but Denise was not such a mother. She enjoyed James's company, and preferred him to stay close at her side.
James seemed close to Denise, and was not at all bothered to be in her presence. He loved to be read to, and would oftentimes come running to her with a book in hand, snuggle on her lap, and listen intently as she told him the story.
"He was a very bright little boy," Denise would say, proudly. "He could count, he knew his ABCs, and he was already learning how to read. He had loads of books in the flat..."
At the age of two, James was quite the little chatterbox, full of wonder and always eager to learn something new. He loved watching videos with his mommy and had a select few which were his favorites. He would watch those time and time again, no less intrigued by the film than he had been only a few days earlier.
James also had a fascination with trains (which, in the event of his death, would come to be recognized as a tragic irony) and loved anything to do with them.
And something else Denise will never forget: hearing her baby laugh, or whisper "I love you" in her ear, feeling his arms around her neck when he would run to hug her, or the sweet words he spoke to her, like the time he told her the perfume she had on "smelled lovely." All the hopes, dreams and ambitions of a happy future she and Ralph had for him: a future that would never come.
Rest In Peace precious James x
