My Encounter With Two Angels

By Joe Jackson

I lay in bed many nights over the years, asking God, "Why was my life spared so many times? What is my real purpose in life? Why did two angels save me?" I remember going to church and hearing people say God spoke to them. I didn't really know how God would speak to me, but I learned over the years. When something positive stays on my mind constantly and won't go away, I know God is trying to speak to me. I have a strong belief in God.

This book is about my encounter with two angels at age twelve and the transformation that took place decades later in prison. I have spent decades in prisons and juvenile detention facilities most of my life since age eleven.

Have you ever seen or spoken to someone, and they were gone in a second? The event or situation left you very confused, and you weren't sure what just happened. And when you told someone, they didn't believe you or thought you were weird or crazy. You are not alone.

There are other people who have experienced the same thing. The event that happened to me sixty-one years ago was my secret until now. I told a few people what happened to me, and they didn't say anything. I could tell they didn't believe me.

There are five times in my life where I knew for sure that I was going to be killed or die.

There have been many other times in my life where the situation could go either way, which I will mention throughout this book.

I hope this book will help people who had experiences like mine and just don't talk about it because no one would believe them. I hope that sharing about my being molested at five, my issues with abandonment, and steps I was able to take to heal will help others heal too.

I will start this book by going back to as far as I can remember, which I believe is between four and five years old. All these events will intertwine as the story unfolds.

God has kept his two angels around me my whole life, and they're still with me today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890617972

Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson is an author, journalist and broadcaster who has worked for all major media outlets in Ireland over his thirty-five-year career, including The Irish Times, Sunday Independent and RTÉ Radio 1. His books include Boyzone: Our Story, Troubadours and Troublemakers and Nanci Griffith’s Other Voices. His articles and interviews have been published globally in magazines such as Playboy, Rolling Stone and Der Spiegel. His radio programmes include People Get Ready, a fifty-two-part millennial music series, and The Years Go Pop, a twenty-six-part history of popular culture. In 2015 his two-part radio documentary Richard Harris Revisited was submitted by RTÉ for an IMRO award in the ‘Best Speech’ category. In 2016 he presented, at the Richard Harris International Film Festival in Limerick, a multi-media one-person show of the same name based on that radio programme. His interviews with Harris voice the ‘ghost’ in the 2022 Sky Arts documentary The Ghost of Richard Harris.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Preface

Introduction

Early Childhood: Abandoned and Molested

The Great Escape

Foster Homes

My Encounter with My Two Angels

Teenage Years

Motorcycle Wreck

Moving Out on Our Own, and Mom Returns to Town

Prison

Kansas City

Drug Dealing: Robbed and Hog-Tied

First Jury Trial Begins

Pacific Ocean / Mother and Father

Second Trial

Kansas State Prison: From Riches to Rags

Missouri Prison System: House of Healing and the N.A and VOP Programs

Released from Prison

About the Author

cover.jpg

My Encounter With Two Angels

Joe Jackson

Copyright © 2024 Joe Jackson

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2024

ISBN 979-8-89061-796-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89061-798-9 (Hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-89061-797-2 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

To my lovely wife, Wanda Sue, who saved my life

Thank you, sweetheart, for always being there for me.

I love you.

To my children—Jeannie, Joe, Camesha, Nick, John, Chrissy, Missy, and Jeff

I love you all, and thanks for the support and love.

Preface

This book is about my encounter with two angels at age twelve and the transformation that took place decades later in prison. I have spent decades in prisons and juvenile detention facilities most of my life.

Have you ever seen or spoken to someone, and they were gone in a second or two? The event or situation left you very confused, and you weren't sure what just happened. And when you told someone, they didn't believe you or thought you were weird or crazy. You are not alone.

There are other people who have experienced the same thing. The event that happened to me sixty-one years ago was my secret until now. I told a few people what happened to me, and they didn't say anything. I could tell they didn't believe me.

There are five times in my life where I knew for sure I was going to be killed or die.

There have been many other times in my life where the situation could go either way, and I will mention them throughout the book.

I will also talk about abandonment issues, being molested at five, running away from home at eleven, and how these events can affect a person for a lifetime.

I will start this book by going back to as far as I can remember, which I believe is when I was between four and five years old. All these events will intertwine as the story unfolds.

God has kept his two angels around me my whole life.

Introduction

My name is Johnny Joe Jackson Freeman. I'm the oldest of ten children. I have been married for over twenty-five years. I live in Saint Charles, Missouri. I have an associate's degree in general studies. I have four children. I started writing this book at sixty but stopped. I have never written a book before.

This project stayed on my mind constantly. I lay in bed many nights over the years and kept asking God, Why was my life spared so many times? What is my real purpose? Why did two angels save me?

I remember going to church and hearing people say God spoke to them. I didn't really know how God would speak to me, but I learned over the years. When something positive stays on my mind constantly and won't go away, I know God is trying to speak to me. I have a strong belief in God.

I hope this book will help people who had experiences like mine and just don't talk about them because no one would believe them. I hope that sharing about my being molested at five, how I was able to heal, and what I did to heal will help other victims. I hope my issue with abandonment will help others too.

Since my release from prison, I have worked with probation officers, judges, and lawyers. I have taught classes on conflict resolution to people who left prison and are returning to society. Every detail in this book is from true events, except for some names that I changed for the privacy of others.

Transformation and change are possible for everyone, no matter what their circumstances are.

Picture of me, my grandmother, and my uncle

Three months old

Two years old

Early Childhood: Abandoned and Molested

Iam the oldest out of ten children. My mother got pregnant with me at sixteen years old and had me when she was seventeen years old. My mom and I were staying with my grandmother at this time. My grandmother was a sweet and kind lady. She had one son that I recall named Luther; he would always play with me when we lived there and whenever we went to visit. I don't remember much about my grandmother, but I do remember seeing all the pamphlets with big watchtowers on them lying around the house. Later on in life, I realized she was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

My mother met my stepdad, who was in the army, and they got married. I had a different biological father from the rest of my siblings. My father also had been in the army. I had two other siblings at this early time in my life. I was a fairly happy young child. My stepdad was in the army, and he was going to be transferred to Germany soon. I was around four years old, living in Canton, Ohio, and all I remember hearing just about every day was going to live in Germany. I didn't know anything about Germany, but the excitement that my mom and stepdad had was infectious. I believe I wanted to go to Germany more than they did.

The day finally arrived, and we all got in the car to leave for Germany. We stopped by my grandmother's house first. There is a picture of me and my grandmother at the beginning of the chapter.

When we first walked up to my grandmother's door, my stepdad was carrying something in his hand. I really didn't think too much about it at the time. My grandmother started giving big hugs to my mom and my other two siblings. When I went to get my hug, she just put her arm around my shoulder and held me next to her. My mom walked up to me and told me I was going to be staying with my grandmother and that I could go to Germany the next time they went. They got in the car and left. I remember crying and standing at the front door. I was really hurt. I knew I was the firstborn and the oldest, and it was always just me and my mom until she met my stepdad. I had been looking forward to going to Germany all this time, and I wanted to go!

My grandmother talked to me for a while and held me close to her hip, and then we went inside the house. I still have strong emotions about this time in my life as I write this now. I am seventy-three years old now, and I can remember it like it was yesterday. So I know for a fact that things that happen to a person at a young age can stay with them a lifetime. It never goes away; most of the time, we just suppress it and go on about our life. That includes rape, molestation, and any type of physical or emotional abuse. It never goes away. I will talk later about how I was able to move on and heal. I still feel the hurt now, but it's not as intense.

One day, I was walking down the street by myself in Canton, Ohio. I am pretty sure I was getting close to five years old. I really don't know why I was walking by myself at that age. I know my grandmother was an older lady and didn't get around very well, and my uncle was gone a lot. So I pretty much roamed around by myself. I am pretty sure I wasn't that far from home. A man pulled up to me and offered me something. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was enough to lure me in the car, where he molested me. I was really confused about what