Birdilyn was born in Jamaica, West Indies in the parish of St. Elizabeth, to Luther and Myrtle Watson. She is the twelfth of fifteen children. In April 1968, Birdilyn migrated to the United States. Since coming to the United States, Birdilyn has earned her Master's in Management and Counseling from Cambridge College and a Bachelor of Science in Management from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She is an ordained local elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Birdilyn is the mother of two biological children, nine stepchildren and twenty-six grandchildren. Reading, writing, spending time with her family and preaching keeps her busy. She is now retired from the New Bedford Public School where she worked as a guidance counselor and from Commonwealth Gas and Electric Company where she worked as a customer service representative. She spends most of the winter in Jamaica.