My Box of Jewels
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
MY BOX OF JEWELS BY KATHY R. JACKSON CHAPTER 1 (PREVIEW) The first picture I see when I open the picture book is me, ‘bout nine or ten years old, sitting on the porch with my Mother in the background. You can’t see her face but I remember that old green duster she used to wear all the time. When I was a young girl, I would daydream about my future for hours on end. Sometimes, I would imagine myself as a doctor. Other times a lawyer, teacher or nurse but no matter what the profession or residential location, my dream always included a husband, two or three children, a house, dog and a yard complete with picket fence. Unlike my baby sister Tootsie, I nev’a want’d more than three children and I only want’d, boys. Well, that ain’t how it came to be. I had two girls first, then, I got my baby boy on the third try. Let me slow down, cause I’m get’n ahead myself. I’ll introduce ya’ll to my family a bit later. Right now, I think it’s best I focus on me and how I end’d up in St. Louis. I was born to Ouida and John on January 13, 1936. I come from a large household. Hell, er’ybody had huge families back then. There was no such thang as birth control. And ev’n if it was, who could afford it? Anyway, we lived in Mississippi on a farm outside’a small town call’d Sumner. You probably nev’a heard of it but for point of reference, it’s located about 30 or 40 miles from Oxford, home of the University of Mississippi. And it’s the same place the murder trial of Emmett Till, a young boy from Chicago who was lynched for whistle’n at a white woman, was held. Ironically, in Sumner, they had a sign posted, just as you enter the town that read, “Sumner, a good place to raise a boy.” I have six brothers and one sister, all by the same parents. We range from 1-3 years difference in age. I’m the oldest, so my sister and brothers come to me for advice. Always have, ev’n back then on the farm. My parents were sharecroppers who somehow, managed to keep the family afloat. They eventually saved enuf money to buy some land with a small house on it.
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About the Book
My Box of Jewels follows the trials and tribulations of Pearl, a witty, down-home southern matriarch whose life begins on a Mississippi farm on January 13, 1936.
Born into a large African American family, Pearl’s father is a country preacher who travels the countryside visiting the sick and spreading the good news of the gospel. Pearl and her brothers and sisters live a good life, despite a lack of inside toilets, running water, electricity, or a telephone. The family is not without its hardships—her mother dies during childbirth and the Klan burns their house to the ground—but Pearl survives stronger than ever by believing God will always make a way out of no way. Eventually Pearl moves to St. Louis where she marries, discovers a new way of worship and converts to Catholicism. As Pearl’s family grows to include three children—all of whom are named after gems—Pearl journals all their experiences, recording an incredible family history.
As the circle of life takes Pearl to a rocker on her front porch, she shares stories with her grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, providing them with an everlasting gift of their family legacy.
About the Author
Kathy Jackson is a cradle African American Catholic and an avid reader of Christian fiction. A former human resources executive, she currently lives and works as a substitute teacher in St. Louis, Missouri. She has two adult children and one granddaughter and is working on her second novel.