Saturday, May 16, 1998

Kindness of strangers brings mother dignity

By Loretta Fulton / Abilene Reporter-News

The kindness of two strangers, two women who "don't snap and snarl" whenever Luberta Jackson visits her son in Taylor County Jail, was enough to prompt her to write a letter to the editor.

That and the fact that she wanted to apologize to the victim of her son's alleged crime, robbery.

Jackson's letter was particularly noteworthy because it was printed in the the *iReporter-News*i the day after a four-part series ended concerning a murder in Oklahoma of a teen-age girl.

In the series, three of the girl's peers were accused of the crime. The girl's mother noted that two of the boys and their families showed no remorse and acted like her daughter "got what she deserved."

Two days before Mother's Day, Luberta Jackson of Abilene talked about a difficult life of raising four children alone after a divorce, of spending 10 years getting a degree in sociology from McMurry University and never getting to use it as she wanted because of various circumstances.

"I've just got my degree up at home, and I just look at it every once in a while," she said.

Her words weren't spoken for pity, just part of the conversation. She also talked about how blessed she is to have a job that starts at 10 at night at Abilene State School.

She's lucky because the clients are asleep during her shift and all she has to do is help take them to the bathroom and do some cleaning, lucky because her arthritis won't allow much else.

On Mondays she goes to the jail to visit her son and tries to figure out what went wrong.

"I've gone back over every step and asked, ÔWhat could I have done wrong?' " she said.

During the visits with her son, she reminds him of what she always told him growing up, that you have to take responsibility for your actions and that "things done in the dark will always come back to haunt you."

Those are the visits where she runs into the two women who work at the jail and treat her with respect. Many others don't, she said.

"People are too quick to jump to conclusions about people on sight," she said.

People visiting loved ones at the jail need that simple kindness, and she just wanted to thank the two ladies who showed it.

"We are heartsick already and appreciate being treated kindly and with dignity," she wrote in her letter to the editor.

And then she apologized to the victim.

"I, as a mother who tried to do all the right things for a child, apologize to his victim because I share in his mistakes. Even our best is not always good enough."

The mother of a murder victim in Oklahoma is still waiting for signs of remorse from the accused and their families.

A victim in Abilene, and possibly her mother, too, at least know that someone is sorry for their pain, even though that pain is causing Luberta Jackson to weep as she talks about her sadness.

"I didn't think I had any more tears," she said.