Beverly Jackson

Make the right choices. I think that is the most important thing in life. It’s either a good choice or a bad choice. Either way will make us happy or not happy.

Beverly Jackson

My name is Beverly Jackson. I was born June 21, 1928. I’m the youngest of ten.

I have four brothers and five sisters. The majority of my life was spent in the hospital or convalescent home. A convalescent home is a place where you go when you are recuperating from an illness. I was born with a heart condition; had to make sure I didn’t over-exert myself. I wasn’t able to play. A lot of the time I had pain in my joints and bones. When I started having pain, I would go to the convalescent home to be just in a bed. I got to read books but there was no TV. I would have visitors that would come.

I loved to walk. My sister and Mary Jane would walk to the capitol and lie on the grass and look up at the sky and would daydream; wish upon things we would like to have. My sisters taught me how to play jacks. Those were the two main things. Sometimes we would catch a bus and would just ride. We didn’t have a lot of money. It wasn’t like being able to hop in the car and go on the bus and shop at the mall. A lot of the things we did were free things. We jumped rope a lot and did roller-skating. Because of my illness, I would have to tone it down. I could do it for a little while and would have to stop.

Making the right choices is the most important thing in life—listening to someone and paying attention—when mom asks you to do something you have a choice. You can either do what mom says or not do what mom says. You make choices every day at school. You choose to pay attention and choose to be a friend. It’s either a good choice or a bad choice. If you have a bad habit—making a bad choice—you are not happy. We all have choices to make. Either way will make us happy or not happy.

In 1992 my husband and I moved up here to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take care of our two granddaughters. We started doing foster care and loved it so much we adopted three children. While doing foster care we lost two members of the family: my husband and daughter. Though I was sad, the choice of adoption made us happy.

While doing foster care, I’ve had dozens of kids. Foster kids can stay for up to ten years. I love it because I love kids. I love to sit down and read to them. I love to take them for walks and go outside. I like to look at the ants. I would show them how the ants like to walk around. I tell them, “Don’t step on the ants. Watch those little things. God made them.” They need that one-on-one time and getting close to nature. It’s beautiful.