In this compelling episode of ‘The Good News,’ Angie Austin sits down with author Jackie Calloway to discuss her transformative experiences. Jackie opens up about a pivotal moment in her life when she overcame desperate circumstances with divine intervention. Her story not only highlights personal strength and resilience but also the unyielding support of her family who played a crucial role in her journey. Tune in to be moved by Jackie’s courage and to better understand the significance of sharing hope and love in challenging times.
Looking for a quick primary care appointment? Start here. Hartford HealthCare Medical Group offers appointments right away, often the next day, with skilled clinicians who partner with you to get you healthy and keep you healthy. We’re here for you, whether it’s an illness, chronic condition, or a physical, with offices throughout Fairfield County. Visit HartfordHealthCare.org slash primary care. That’s HartfordHealthCare.org slash primary care.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the Good News along with Mrs. Jackie Calloway. She is a listener of the program. She is an author and a friend of the show now and also of my friend, Monique Davis, who joins us quite often on the show. And Monique brought the books over to my house, Jackie’s books, and put them right in my mailbox because she really thought that I enjoy Jackie. And boy, was she right. We’ve talked about the love that she and her husband had for each other, but it didn’t start out that way. They were married for quite a long time, got a divorce, but then had the love that lasted till death do us part and had a wonderful marriage. And really, the Lord had his hand in that in really transforming their marriage and her husband. But we wanted to talk a little bit more like we did last week about because it is uh suicide prevention awareness month september is about her book suicide don’t do it don’t seek a permanent solution to your temporary challenges be inspired to live and love jackie calloway welcome back jackie Thank you. Good to be back. All right. We had to end so abruptly last week and I was just riveted by your story. And so just kind of give us a recap of, you know, why you wrote the book and why you considered suicide and why you wanted to write this book and give people hope. So let’s kind of go back in your testimony a little bit.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, the, um, In The Love That Would Not Go, Let Me Go, that was about our marriage, separation, divorce for seven years, and married again for 24 more years. But the Suicide Don’t Do It book is a testimony of when I was a senior in high school, And I got pregnant and living in a small town in Huntington, West Virginia. And I was the eighth of nine children. And my mother was just such a godly woman and just really had put so much into me and really expected me to. do great things and uh when i got pregnant i was so just i i just couldn’t believe it that uh i was going to let my mother down and not that my mother was a parent or anything like that but I just loved her so much and she loved me so much that I just didn’t want to disappoint her. So when I found out I was pregnant and I found out that she knew, I just kind of lost it. And so I was determined I was not going to tell her.
SPEAKER 06 :
But you did know that she knew or you didn’t know that she knew?
SPEAKER 08 :
I knew that she knew when she told me one day when I was washing dishes, she said it would be a shame. if you had to marry that boy. And I knew then that she knew. And so she was leaving going to choir practice. And so I panicked and I went upstairs in the bathroom. I turned on the little gas heater. Remember, I’m 17 years old and just silly. Turned on the gas stove and just began to inhale. Just inhale as deeply as I could. And I don’t know how long I did that. But the Lord spoke to me in the midst of that. And he said, you call yourself a Christian and you can’t trust me to see you through this? And I thought, I mean, you know, the scripture says the word of God is quick, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing asunder the soul from the spirit. And that word, the word of God, cut through my soulish thinking. Oh, my goodness. And I turned off the gas. And I thought, I am a Christian. And I can trust God. And I got up. I opened the door. And I heard my brother down in the front of the house yell, gas, gas. The whole house was full of gas. And I didn’t even get a headache. And my mother ran into the room and she grabbed me and hugged me. She said, what are you doing? We can work through this. We can work through this. And I just broke. And that’s when I, that was my attempt in suicide.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh my goodness. Your mom is just like amazing. And I know you were fearful of your dad, but then there’s more of a miracle to this because there was someone in the family that so wanted a child. And I just think, talk about God getting you through this and what a blessing it’s been that you, this daughter knows you and knows that you’re her mother, but she was able to be raised by people older than you were who really wanted a child. So tell us about that.
SPEAKER 08 :
and I really wanted her and so did her father wanted her and he was actually excited and knowing well what he said to me was good girls get married don’t they and I was upset with him for saying that because I didn’t know anything about my body, and I was just, both of us were dumb as rock.
SPEAKER 06 :
Sorry, Jackie, that’s hilarious.
SPEAKER 08 :
But it was so, you know, he was determined that we were going to get married, and I thought that’s what you do do. You do get married, and you move forward. Well, my mother said to me, Just one night, because I was trying to finish school. Of course. Back in 1964, you did not… You were not able to go to school and be pregnant.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I’ll bet. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that was such a horrible stigma for a girl to get pregnant and not be married. But… I was trying to finish school. It was my senior year. And so one night, though, my mother and I were watching TV, and she said, I think it would be, she said, I think you would ruin your life if you get married now. I looked at her and I thought, what? I thought that would be the respectable thing to do. She said, you don’t know anything about marriage. And I just think, and neither does he, and I just think it would be a big mistake for you to get married now. I said, hey, I didn’t listen to you before, but I’m going to listen now. You know, so… I told my daughter’s father, I said, well, I’m not going to marry you. And he was very, very upset. But the other thing was, we were all afraid of what my dad would do or say when he found out. And we should have been afraid. Because he told me that you will not bring a baby into this house. And at 17, I thought, so what does that mean?
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, what does that mean?
SPEAKER 08 :
Where do you go? What do you do? And all of that. But anyway, long story short, one of my brothers, I had five brothers. And one of my brothers and his wife could not have children. And he asked me if I would let him adopt the baby.
SPEAKER 05 :
You must have been floored like, oh, my goodness.
SPEAKER 08 :
I was I was floored four or five times before the end of all of this. But I didn’t want him. to adopt the baby i wanted the baby i wanted my baby i wanted to raise my baby and it was such a my daughter said don’t say that um it was disturbing she said it was traumatic I said, yes, it was very traumatic. Your daughter that you gave up said that to you? Yes. Yes. She said it was very traumatic. But anyway, I had the baby and
SPEAKER 05 :
you’ll have to read the book it’s so much more to it than that oh i’m going to i’ve got it right in front of me right now i’m definitely going to and yeah i know that you wanted her to know that you were her mother and that was part of the arrangement right that she still knew that exactly yes and when we went to after i had her and the next well i was in the hospital a few days
SPEAKER 08 :
And then we went to the attorney’s office. And it was, yeah, the attorney’s office. I don’t know if it was an attorney or the judge, but for the legal adoption. And I never thought about it being legal until he looked at me. And after we’d signed the papers and he said, Jackie, you realize you are no longer the legal mother of Margo. You are her legal aunt. Do you understand that? And for the first time, it hit me. They are taking my baby. You know, I mean… We had talked about it and all, but keep remembering, I was 17.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
And that just didn’t register with me.
SPEAKER 06 :
So your brother, then he agreed. Every time I talk to you, I want to have another half an hour, so we have a minute left. So your brother agreed and said, yes, we will let her know that you’re her mother, even though you’re going to be her aunt per se now?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, they did everything I asked. They were just so, they were very amenable to this whole situation and very happy to have her. And she was raised as an only child. And he loved her. They loved her. Both of them loved her. And she was raised with all of her cousins and her aunts and her grandmother and grandfather. And it was just a God thing.
SPEAKER 06 :
A total God thing. And don’t you realize that God loves you enough to help you get through that. Jackie Calloway, suicide, don’t do it. Don’t seek a permanent solution to your temporary challenges. Be inspired to live and love. And very fitting in September, National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Jackie, it’s a real blessing to have you. We’ll talk to you next week.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. Thank you, Angie. I always want to talk longer, Jackie.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re the best.
SPEAKER 03 :
Get your gently used back-to-school shopping done at Arc Thrift. Arc offers back-to-school necessities at a fraction of the cost compared to the big box stores. Whether you’re looking for back-to-school supplies, lunch boxes, or new clothes and accessories, Arc has got you covered. And if your child is starting a new sport or just growing taller, Arc always has quality sporting equipment for all of the sports. It’s getting closer to Halloween, so why not start looking now before the rush? Some of the best and most creative Halloween costumes and decorations can be found at ARC, and they always need donations, so why not have their staff come and pick up your large furniture or at least 10 boxes or bags? Let them know you have a minimum of 10 boxes or bags, and they will come pick it up at a scheduled time. Easy! Just go to their website, arcthrift.com, to schedule a pickup or find the nearest ARC Thrift today. Again, that’s arcthrift.com.
SPEAKER 05 :
Edgewater is tuned to the mighty 670 KLT.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin and Jim Stovall with the good news. We’re talking about his winner’s wisdom column, and this week it’s the story behind the numbers. Jim, you and I missed some time together because I was traveling for about a month, seven states, and only came home twice in that month for about four hours each time. So I was hoping I’d interview you on the road, but things got a little crazy, Jim.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, we’re catching up, but it’s been fun for everybody in the office. I became the guardian for Jessica years ago, but when she was a little kid, we played this game, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? And so for the last month or two, every week we’d do it for radio time, like, Where in the World is Angie? And we’ve… We have a little map that we’ve pinpointed. Where’s Angie today? Because you’ve been about everywhere there is.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’ve been a lot of places, however. And I did college visits. My daughter’s got four college offers so far for volleyball. And she just got recruited by a new club. We were ready to sign with a club. We love her volleyball club. She didn’t go to any other tryouts. She’s never club hopped. Like a lot of kids that have issues. I should say kids. Their parents have issues with a club or playing time and they hop around. We just stayed at the same one. We just loved everybody. We loved the coach and we never interfere in coaching decisions. We stay out of that. So why would we be unhappy, right? Because we’re not getting involved in all of that. So anyway, to make a long story short, I was gone, but my husband and my daughter were at a volleyball tournament for her high school, and he got approached by another club. And the only reason that we ended up going to this club is our old club moved to 45 minutes away. So that’s 90 minutes in the car, which, as you know, in a snowstorm is more like two hours. So I was thinking an hour… 45 minutes to an hour to her practice and then that back, and it’s further up into the mountains. So you’ve got a 16-year-old girl driving in the snow in the winter in higher elevations on the 75-mile-an-hour freeway, which they go 84. And so we decided only for safety that we would go ahead and go with the – it’s one of the top clubs out there. We did decide we’d go with it. And it’s heartbreaking to leave people. We always talk about connections that we really care about. You know, this coach really brought her up. And when I called the coach, she was, oh, no, I’m not losing her to such and such club. They are not. That’s my girl. I trained that girl. I did this, that girl. And she really made it attractive for us to stay. But it all came down to safety, you know, where I just thought this is a terrible decision. But I’ve got to make it for my kid because I don’t feel comfortable with, you know, our winters in Denver. They can get really bad. Yeah. head up in elevation, you know? So anyway, my point to all of that, she’s got four offers. We went to all these different colleges. We drove around Midwest. I love the Midwest. I love the small towns. And then we went to Cincinnati. We went to Kentucky. We went to Orlando. I went to Portland, Oregon for ThriftCon with my son. I mean, it’s just been a whirlwind. But my brother, I just want to tell you, he outdid me. He’s a teacher now. So he retired from his big engineering job. And he, Jim, I’m not kidding you. He takes it. He has a job in the room. He makes $17 an hour. And I mean, he made good money as an engineer. He went to West Point Military Academy and graduated near the top of his class. And he is a teaching assistant now in math. So all he wanted to do. was help kids learn math. He loves it. And he gets notes from kids, you know, thank you, teacher so-and-so, you know, I love it. You know, it’s helped me so much. So he took the whole summer. He went to 25 states with just him and his dog. Wow. In a camper, like, you know, those Mercedes Sprinter campers?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, he just took that and he drove all around. He went to 25 states, saw cousins and went to Maine, you know, from Arizona to Colorado, all through the Midwest, the East Coast, the Carolinas, Maine. I mean, what a blast, huh?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yeah, and sometimes you don’t even know where you are. I did a tour. I did eight cities in seven days across Canada, one side to the other one time, with these arena speeches. And, I mean, some of them you just walk off stage, get on the plane, sleep, whatever you could. You’d get to the next one, and you’re ready, you know. And about three or four into the—we were somewhere in Alberta. And so I— I’m backstage, and I’m kind of sure where we are, but I’m not 100% sure. So I turned to the backstage, one of the stage hands, and I said, excuse me, weird question. Confirm for me where we are. And he said, Mr. Stovall, we are backstage.
SPEAKER 07 :
I said, I know that.
SPEAKER 04 :
We’re backstage. But break it down for me. And he said, you are in Edmonton. I said, thank you so much. I just wanted to make sure.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, gosh. You had to confirm before you went out and said, good morning, Alberta. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Yeah. And you mess it up, you know, so, so yeah, but it’s a, Hey, I’m glad you’re, I’m glad you had the trip and I’m glad it’s winded down. You’re getting home.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, that’s fun. Yeah. Me too.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’ve just got one more, uh, four day tournament and then I’m done for a while. Uh, all right. We’re today, we’re talking about your winner’s wisdom column, the story behind the numbers, and this is a personal finance column. So what are you teaching us here?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you know, numbers are good to compare and contrast. They’re a tool. But they really don’t get us to move. They don’t change. Here’s a classic example. We hear the number $34 trillion all the time because that’s our national debt. And you just zone out. I mean, what’s a trillion? I can’t even fathom a billion. And what is it? $34 trillion. So, you know, it’s up from $32 trillion last year. Well, who cares? We don’t even know what it is. Let me tell you a number you will care about. Every household in America owes $256,000. That’s your family’s share of the national debt.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, that could be your house or something, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So all of a sudden, that number matters. That makes a difference. We collectively owe $34 trillion. I don’t care. I owe $256,000. That matters to me. And so, you know, our own individual portion of this matters. And, you know, I remember I was doing an event years ago for a group of independent business people. And some of the people had qualified to be able to have 15-minute one-on-one meetings with me. So people would come in. Let’s talk about your goal, your strategy, where you’re going. And I’ll never forget there was a woman comes in. and she said you know i said what’s your long-term goal what would you like to do and she starts talking about learjets and limousines and i want to do all this stuff and i could tell she was just saying what she thought i wanted her to say and finally i said ma’am we’re down to about five minutes in our time left and we’ll probably never see each other again won’t you tell me the truth what would you really like to get and she starts crying and finally she says I am sick and tired of being broke all the time. I live in a horrible area of town. It’s not safe. I’m a single mom with two little girls. I can’t take them on vacation. I can’t do anything. My kids, I’m tired of dropping them off every day. My kids are the worst-dressed kids at their school. My goal would be that on picture day, my two little girls would have new dresses. I said, now we’re talking. That dog will hunt right there. We’ve got to the objective. Well, we talked about her strategy to do that. And even though she knows I’m a blind person, somewhere down the hall there, there’s a file I keep of her. Because about two months later, she sent me her two little girls’ school photos in their brand new dresses. And she told me. We are moving into a house across town in a better area, and we’re already planning our vacation. Me and my two little girls are going to Disney World. So all of a sudden, when you can take the numbers and turn it into a reality that matters to people… uh… the works that well you know we came to call president reagan the great communicator you know there was this big tax cut that nobody was getting in all this stuff and uh… and you know it was nineteen eighty four so he said well did every family would get eight hundred dollars on average would be twice that today but he said this is for a family of four in iowa you know they need a new washer dryer they can’t get it or they haven’t been on vacation several years of this will change that for them and all of a sudden these billions of dollars start taking on a reality because, okay, I can relate to that. That’s something I can understand. I mean, you know, Learjets and limousines are trillions of dollars. I don’t know what that means. Talk about new dresses for little girls on picture day. I can get that. That works. And that’s when we turn, you know, the numbers into stories that work in our lives.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, you know, it’s funny that you mentioned that because I was just with family and they said, oh, I could see you doing a telethon. Did you ever do a telethon? I’m like, funny you mentioned that. I said that I would do the Jerry Lewis telethon. And then when they would ask me, you ask for money, right? Because you’re raising money for these kids to go to camp and everything else. I said, would you please give me a list of like, what does it approximately cost for crushes? How much is one week at camp? How much are the special crutches that they can almost run with? Some of these kids are so fast with these things. How much is a non-motorized wheelchair? The camp was an important one to me because they have so much fun at the camps. So I’m like, if I send three kids to camp, how much is it? One kid to camp, you know, obviously I multiply it, but I wanted people to have something very concrete that they were donating for. If you donate $200, you’re sending a kid to camp for a week or a thousand or whatever it may be. I just felt if it was tangible and they could envision what they were donating the money for, that they’d be more likely to give a specific amount for something specific that they would, if they could just hand a kid with muscular dystrophy, something specific. that they would want to hand to them. And we just talked about this. I just came back from Portland, and I just thought that’s exactly what you’re saying. As you’re saving, let’s say we want to do a cruise to Alaska at some point with the kids. That’s a great goal for me. The dresses, I love that goal. Disney, that used to be my goal. I just went recently, and I’m soured on Disney World right now, so that one I won’t save for right now. But, you know, if it’s specific, it’s so much more fun to work towards that goal. And sometimes I’ll set up a separate account even, like one time I did a car or whatever. And then you see it grow, and it’s really fun.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yeah. And, you know, I remember the Jerry Lewis telethon.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, Jerry would come out, and he’d just, drum roll, please. And they would give you the new big number. And it was millions and millions of dollars. And, you know, I always thought, My $100 doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s just not that big a deal. But when someone like you comes along, I can send one kid to camp. Now, that matters to me. It becomes relatable and it becomes real, as opposed to, you know, I don’t even move the number up there, you know, if we’re talking millions and millions of dollars.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, exactly right. But I do remember that and how exciting it would be when he’d get to a certain amount. But I couldn’t even envision what he was going to do with it. It was just exciting to see it go up like gambling, you know, when you see big numbers.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, yeah. But as far as me picking up the phone, and this is something I feel like I need to do while doing what you said, you know, one kid. And I’m helping a kid go to camp this year. And that is something I can feel good about.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, absolutely. All right. So give us the big picture on the story behind the numbers. We’ve got about a minute left.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you know, numbers are always good to measure where we are and where we’re going. And numbers are great when you’re saving and investing. I mean, is the number getting bigger? Is the number getting smaller? You know, if I’m growing at this pace, where will I be in a year, 10 years? Where will I be when I retire? Numbers are good for that. But at some point, they have to be relatable into people and things and relationships. And how is this number going to really impact our lives? Because when it comes down to making a sacrifice or working harder, making that number bigger doesn’t motivate us. Little girls getting new dresses or going on an Alaskan cruise, that will motivate us.
SPEAKER 06 :
I love that. I did a medical study and we’re almost out of time, but I made money off of it and I used it for this. I think I told you when we went on the cruise, we went, it was kind of expensive, but I thought, oh, it’s going to be cool. Everyone loved it. We went in these underground caverns that were filled with water. They were underground rivers and you waited or, you know, my husband’s six, six on five feet. I had to swim a little bit and you were in wet suits and you, there were stalactites and stalagmites and bats and crystal clear water and History and info, it was so worth saving the money from the study and using it for that. JimStoval.com, always a pleasure, my friend. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
In this compelling episode of ‘The Good News,’ Angie Austin sits down with author Jackie Calloway to discuss her transformative experiences. Jackie opens up about a pivotal moment in her life when she overcame desperate circumstances with divine intervention. Her story not only highlights personal strength and resilience but also the unyielding support of her family who played a crucial role in her journey. Tune in to be moved by Jackie’s courage and to better understand the significance of sharing hope and love in challenging times.
