Sisterhood: A Lifetime of Opportunities

Sisters Sherry Watkins and Karen Hall are champions of living large, independent lives
By Ellen Orr

Sisters Sherry Watkins (née Hall) and Karen Hall are, in some ways, stark opposites. Sherry is a type-A introvert who loves quiet nights at home, sharing takeout with her husband before an early bedtime. Karen, meanwhile, is the life of the party. Along with her boyfriend of four years, Jeffrey, she loves attending concerts throughout the Ark-La-Tex, meeting new people, swing dancing at the Elks Lodge, and staying out into the wee hours of the morning. 

Photo by shane darby.

If you’re thinking that this information is unremarkable, you’re right. While Sherry and Karen individually are exemplary citizens, their relationship is like most healthy sibling relationships: sometimes bristly, always loving, interdependent, typical. This is surprising to many, who expect that Karen’s disability radically changes the women’s dynamic. This misperception is heightened by Sherry’s role as executive director and CEO of Opportunities, Inc., a local nonprofit which provides various services to developmentally disabled children and adults. But, that is not the case.

Sherry and her sons, Chris and John, are Aggie fans and love attending Texas A&M football games.

“Everybody has strengths and weaknesses,” Sherry said, “and Karen has a lot of strengths that I don’t have. She’s much more thoughtful than I am, remembering birthdays and all those things and sending cards. When I’m sick, the first thing she asks is what she can do for me. She is also a much better cook; there’s no way I could make the big thing of chicken and dressing she makes for Thanksgiving, and she does the ham, and she bakes a special cake that my grandmother always made.”

Karen and her boyfriend, Jeffrey, met at Opportunities and are celebrating their fourth Christmas together this year.

Karen first learned to cook by watching her mother. She further developed her skills when she moved to Dallas to live in a group home after high school.

“It was my decision [to move to the group home in Dallas],” she explained. “I thought it would be good for me to see different places, meet new people, and make new friends.”

Like most young adults moving away from home, Karen’s early 20s were spent learning life skills: cleaning, budgeting, and working. Karen worked at an eyeglasses company in Dallas for 14 years before a round of layoffs prompted her to move back to her hometown in 2010. Understanding that her parents were aging, Karen moved in with them, enjoying their company and helping her mother around the house. With the help of Texas Rehabilitation and Goodwill, she got a job at a nursing home, where she stayed until pivoting to a career in customer service. In 2013, she was hired at Walgreens, where she recently earned her ten-year pin. She also received the 2022 Corporate Social Responsibility Award for her store’s district, as part of the Walgreens Champion of Champions program.

Karen loves working with customers. Through her work at Walgreens, she said, she has grown to value patience more highly—and has developed more patience herself.

“I get some customers at Walgreens [who are] slow, and I see the other customers getting impatient because I guess they’re in a hurry or something, and I feel that they need to be patient, even with people who don’t have a disability, and with older people, because they’re gonna be in that spot one day,” Karen said. She admitted that she occasionally gets frustrated with people who are moving at a slower pace—for example, when out shopping and dealing with an inefficient cashier—but she now thinks to herself, “One of these days, that’ll be you.”

“Or, that could be you checking them out,” Sherry added, to which Karen nodded. “You know how it feels to be checking someone out and for them to get impatient with you.”

Karen now lives independently in an apartment community facilitated by Opportunities. When she’s not taking road trips with Jeff or attending concerts, she can be found spending time with her neighbors, dancing at the Elks Lodge, or playing bingo with Opportunities’ senior residents. “I enjoy doing everything with everybody,” Karen said.

Karen with the Australian rock band, Newsboys.

Sherry, too, enjoys spending time with others, though, as an introvert, her social battery needs to recharge after her workday.

“Karen will text me and say, ‘We didn’t get home until 2 a.m.’ You go girl; I was in bed at 10!” Sherry laughed.

Sherry began her career as a special education teacher at Pleasant Grove. As a child, she was curious about Karen’s needs, and this curiosity is what directed her educational and career paths. “I always wanted to know more,” she said.

After nine years in the classroom, she pursued further education to become an educational diagnostician before getting hired as the district’s director of special programs. In addition to her 22 total years working at PG, Sherry also served as special programs director at Texarkana Arkansas School District for three years, until her mother’s death turned her world upside down.

“I needed some time off of work,” she explained. “Because [my mother’s death] was unexpected, we weren’t prepared. And I had been in Houston with her for two months, away from my boys and Karen. So, I took some time to get everybody settled.”

Sherry emphasized how thankful she is that her parents prepared for Karen’s future, financially and otherwise. Especially for family members who require higher levels of support, preparing for the future is key to ensuring that needs are met.

“I always knew that, one day, it would just be me and Karen,” Sherry said. “That’s a commitment I made. And my boys know that, if something happens to me tomorrow, Karen may need their help from time to time—although, really, the only things Karen really needs my help with these days are things like taxes and insurance. We all have to depend on each other. That’s family.”

When Sherry was ready to return to work in May 2017, she was hired as Opportunities’ executive director and CEO.

“I had all the experience from the public schools, and while the nonprofit world is different, the mission [of Opportunities] falls right in line with what I’ve always done and what I’ve always wanted to do,” she explained.

Beyond professional expertise and experience, Sherry brings a philosophy of inclusion to her role as director. “My goal is to help our clients be as independent and included in the community as possible, whether that is through early intervention and getting our preschool-aged kiddos ready for public school, or helping our adult clients to develop the skills necessary to work and live in the Texarkana community,” she said.

As executive director of Opportunities, Sherry serves preschool-aged clients as well as adults.

Adults who live in Opportunities housing like Karen are afforded all of the independence and agency to which they are entitled, like any adult. Whereas Karen’s group home in Dallas discouraged dating and disallowed residents from having their own vehicles, adults who rely on Opportunities for services are encouraged to live their fullest lives. Staff members are available to varying degrees, depending on individual residents’ needs, but they are there as support, not as authorities. Safety is vital, but so is agency.

“Karen texted me one day and said, ‘Hey, Jeff and I are going to Magic Springs to go to this concert, and I made hotel reservations here, and I got our tickets online, and we got VIP passes,” Sherry recalled. “I was just like, ‘Wow! Let me know when you get there safely!’ I’m just so proud of her for doing that and for being so independent.”

Sherry and Karen don’t see each other as often as they would like, primarily due to Karen’s busy work and social schedules. “We try to get together and at least go out to eat every few weeks,” Sherry said, “but regardless, we keep close tabs on each other.”

During the holiday season, like most families, Sherry and Karen make more of an effort to spend time with one another. Sherry will set an out-of-office auto reply on her work emails. Karen will put away her dancing shoes and don an apron before making her mother’s famous chicken and dressing. The fiercely independent sisters will come together as family to celebrate Christmas, just like everybody else.