Dr. Jayetta L. Slawson

Dr. Jayetta L. Slawson December 3, 1961 - September 21, 2025 "A miracle child!" They all exclaimed in jubilation. In ecstasy. In joy. The worn wood pews were a concert in Pocahontas, Arkansas. My birth on December 3rd, 1961 was a speck in the rearview then. I was just a little girl of five when they thought they had found a tumor. One that inexplicably disappeared one day. So they danced and sang and prayed. They say adolescence is your formative time. "We're getting divorced, Jayetta," my parents had said. It was almost preferable to fighting, I had thought. And Eddie joined my six sisters because of that. Melva, Jeanene, Linda, Glenis, Janice, and Imogene. Eddie lived with Daddy and his mother. And my siblings were older, Imogene being the closest with a nine year difference. So they didn't have to hear: "We're moving to Alabama, Jayetta." Fort Payne, Alabama was a blink of an eye. School plays, writing for the local newspaper, winning a radio contest to speak to the Fonz. Validation. Affirmation. A sea of caps fall on gowns. Back then, you married before you moved out. My mama had made that clear. Darrell was a good man. "You don't want to be here. You want to go to college, Jay," he had said. This is where I learned you need to love them for it to work. I was the Juliet to Thomas Gibson's Romeo in Chattanooga, Tennessee at UT. And I was good. Good enough that Los Angeles spoke to me. "Be the city," it said. A blur of dyed hair and bob cuts. Of Fox Studios and auditions. Of AMFAR with Elizabeth Taylor. Of marrying my second husband, just a friend, so he could stay in the United States. Of learning that fame and fortune aren't real - the glitz and glamour are just part of the show. Of meeting Jason Slawson. Of becoming Jayetta Slawson. No longer a Watson. But always a Watson. Imogene and Steve were shocked when I had returned to Jonesboro with Jason. "Who in the world is this Italian New York-LA liberal?" They must've thought. But my sisters welcomed him to the family all the same. Books and notepads to get a Master's. The smell of fresh lawn clippings on Jason. And on Christmas Day, 1993 the smell of a baby's head. "A Christmas angel," I had said to the doctor. "An elf! A wonderful little elf!" The wide-eyed doctor replied, his stare lingering on Zachary Santo Slawson for an uncomfortably long time as he drew closer. "Get away from my son," Jason told him. A love I had never felt. "You are no longer a singular person. You are an accessory of Zachary now." The words looped in my brain. I couldn't turn it off. Back to the city. To New York. Gloria and Bill and Joan and Mark. My in-laws. A small-town southern girl at NYU getting her PhD. Becoming Dr. Jayetta Slawson. Having another child, Oliver Edmond Slawson, on November 18th, 1996. Who I loved every bit as much. And then, a breakdown of a marriage. With Jason, I learned that sometimes love by itself isn't enough for it to work. It was then I realized: I have too long been a hermit. I'm the city. I thought I'd escape from the things that were me. That was part of my life. I must rise and go to the country. To Hammond, Louisiana. To become an English professor at Southeastern Louisiana University. To raise my Ozark legacies - Oliver and Zachary. Colleagues and students and friends. Tommie and Garrett and Joseph. Chocolate and lemon cakes. Thesis defenses and classes. Boys tardy to school. Full professorship with tenure. Thomas Gibson now on Criminal Minds in the living room. All on Giluso Road. All until Zachary moved to college. And then Oliver. Zachary became the country. Oliver became the city. Both parts of me. I see them. I know them. I understand them. I love them. I was them. But they won't realize that for years. Then it came. One last time to be who I was - who I've always been. Retirement in Arkansas, with Melva. A reconnection with my family. At last, the happiest I've ever been. Life has been a beautiful struggle. But a struggle no longer. Beautiful now. Only beautiful. It's September 21st, 2025. Sunday. Poetic, I think. A heart monitor beeps. I know y'all are all here. Melva, Linda, Glenis, Imogene, Eddie, Starla, Lance, Rachel, Garth, Steva, Steve, Colton, Kelsey, Marina, Rebekah, Tomilyn, Kimi, Morgan Faith. My children, Zachary and Oliver, holding my hands. In the light, my parents, Virda and Louis, reaching out theirs. Louis and Virda, Oliver and Zachary. And as I take my last breath, I think: "I'm the miracle child." And God I hope they'll dance and sing and pray. It's part of the show and the show must go on. Visitation will be held 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM Friday, September 26th, 2025, in the McNabb Funeral Home chapel, with the funeral to start at 2:00 PM. The burial will follow in Masonic Cemetery. Flowers may be sent to McNabb Funeral Home at 2129 N Park St. Pocahontas, AR 72455. To send a flower arrangement in memory of Dr. Jayetta L. Slawson, please click here to visit our sympathy store.