Inspired by the many teachers who mentored her, Beverly J. Armento became an educator and enjoyed a fifty-plus year career as a middle school teacher and University Professor, aiming to nurture educators to believe in and hold high expectations for each child. Retired now, she is a Professor Emerita at Georgia State University and holds degrees from William Paterson University, Purdue University, and Indiana University. She resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Seeing Eye Girl: A Memoir of Madness, Resilience, and Hope is her first book for the general public. Meet Beverly:
What is your most recent book, and what inspired you to write it? Seeing Eye Girl: A Memoir of Madness, Resilience, and Hope, published in 2022, is the harrowing story of growing up in an abusive, dysfunctional home and also a story of inspiration about the teachers who empowered me and made me think I could do anything I put my mind to. It is the story of Strong Beverly, who, at school and church, my safe places, was capable, outgoing, and a leader. But at home, I was Weak Beverly, cowed by my mother’s rage and quietly serving as a surrogate mother to my younger siblings. It was my teachers who mentored and empowered me to believe in myself, to love learning, to have a voice to be resilient and hopeful.
Those angel teachers inspired me not only to be like them and become an educator but also to write this story—to tell the story of the importance of trusted adult mentors in the lives of vulnerable kids. And it was my own students over the course of a fifty-plus career as an educator who influenced me to write about the invisible walking wounded: all those children suffering from childhood trauma and the adults living with untreated trauma.
How do you hope your book uplifts those who read it? There are several key themes of this book, and while it is a deep dive into one person’s rather traumatic childhood, it also is a story of hope, resilience, forgiveness, and healing. Trusted adult mentors, mainly my teachers, in this memoir are the true heroes of the story, as they were a major stabilizing force in my life and I believe, in the lives of many young people. I hope we get back to the time when society remembers this important role, among many others, that educators, counselors, and coaches play. For readers whose life resonates with the narrator, the book gives you permission to openly reflect on your own trauma. Many adults live with untreated trauma, and the effects often take serious turns: anger, addiction, sabotaged relationships, and so on. For those readers, I hope part of the uplifting aspect of the story is the fact that one can heal, one can forgive, choose to be happy, and release oneself from the guilt, confusion, and anger we often carry from such experiences.
What are you most excited about with this book? Right before the publication date, I had a major panic attack. I’d written about all the secrets I’d not even told my best friends, and here I’d put it all on paper to be read by total strangers!!! Oh heavens! How was I going to look folks in the eye? But the reception has been not only positive but totally heart-warming. I’ve had so many fantastic discussions with book clubs and all those total strangers who not only “get the takeaways” of the story but who think these are important issues in today’s world and are eager to dig into finding better ways to address Adverse Childhood Experiences, the availability of sound mental health services, the role of adult mentors, and the issue of adults living with untreated trauma.
This positive reception of Seeing Eye Girl has prompted me to write and speak more on these topics and to tackle writing two more related books. I’ve recently written and self-published Life’s Turning Points: A Personal Reflection Journal, aimed toward seniors who are writing their own life stories to pass on to their children and grandchildren. I certainly did not anticipate this as I wrote my story, and I am excited about it all.
How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals that you set forth? This has been a problem for me as I’ve never learned to say “NO!” It is easy for me to find myself overextended, forgetting my own goals, with time sailing by. Recently, I’ve taken myself to task about this. I’ve written my goals for the next five years, with clear tasks necessary to achieve these. Even though I love everything I take on, I’ve been saying “no” more often and have had to take myself out of some activities. At this stage of my life, I need to be clear about my goals, trying to balance the writing with the personal and the emotional parts of my life. Hopefully with this new clarity, I can be more accountable to myself and to the others in my life while achieving the quality of life I want in my remaining years.
What book uplifts you? There are so many. But The Choice: Embrace the Possible, a memoir by Dr. Edith Eva Eger is remarkable. A Holocaust survivor, Dr. Eger has quite the story and a message for all of us: You can choose happiness and hope.
Learn more about Beverly, her book, and her journal project via her website.
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