My mother was an abused woman who endured years of domestic violence at the hands of my stepfather Richard. My mother used to pick cotton in Chattanooga Tennessee. She was born in 1931. Mom was a pretty woman. At 18 she was pregnant and to be wed to Burl Raines. But my grandfather Clarence did not like Burl so my grandmother Evelyn made my mother at the age of 18 move out. My grandmother favored her sons and made her daughters move out at the age of 18. My mother was released into deep poverty with only a grade school education. My grandmother thought she took mercy upon my mother and took her granddaughter Connie (the new baby) and gave Connie to my Grandmother Evelyn's uncle. This was an illegal adoption. Connie was torn from my mother's arms never to be seen again. My mother cried for hours telling me the story in 1980. Connie was born in 1950.
My mother with no help from her family moved to Chicago to become a stripper in the nightclubs in Chicago. She became a famous dancer and danced all over the United States. My mother gave birth to me in Chicago. But she left me with an Indian dancer and went to earn money for a little while in Duluth Minnesota. My mother finally fell in love with Richard a man she met at the Duluth Motel. My mom went to Chicago to get me from the Indian dancer. We returned to the coldest place imaginable Duluth Minnesota. Richard was living with his mother Sally and Dennis. My mother went upstairs to put out her cigarette in Richard's brother Dennis ash tray. That was a mistake my mother regretted to her death bed. Richard found the cigarette with lipstick in Dennis bedroom and Richard tried to strangle his 18 year old brother with a telephone cord. My mother which to this day I cannot understand ended up moving out of his mother's home and married Richard.
Richard moved us to Chicago and was an engineer. But Richard had a violent mean streak in him. He would get mad and beat my mother or us kids.
In 2000 my mother had ended up at the hospital in Woodstock and the nurse showed me the little strokes my mother had on her legs. I saw hundreds of little strokes in her head. It made me sad because I knew that all the times I had witnessed Richard my stepfather punching my mother in the head. I summed it up as it was Richard's fault my mom had those strokes in her head.
My stepfather Richard died in July 2000 it was a sweltering hot day. My mom panicked when Richard died. My mom kept repeating Dicky, where is Dicky? I told her he was dead. My mother could not comprehend that her husband was dead. My sister Gina was to inherit Richard's insurance policy so she took over and said it was my stepfather's wishes to put my mom in a nursing home. Gina was going to inherit a lot of money so she pretty much controlled everything. My mother always told me she did not want to be put in a nursing home.
But Gina would not let me take my mother. So my mom was 75 miles away in a Chicago nursing home. My van would never make it to Chicago. It had a bad radiator leak. But only a few weeks later I got a phone call mom had died of a heart attack. Gina held the funeral in Woodstock so I could attend. There were a lot of bitter feeling at the funeral and me and my kids drove home. A month later in the winter I was driving in Rockford along highway 2 and saw a woman in the dark she had long grey hair. I took a close look and I saw my mom as an old women. Her hair was flying in the bitter Rockford cold she was walking along the highway with a long dark dress on. She looked just like my mom. This ghost apparition finally vanished as I drove slowly away.
A few months later my daughter saw a ghost with a red witch hat on under her bed. The ghost had long dark brown hair, white skin and a long black dress. Christina said she was dressed like old times. I showed Christina several pictures and she said the one with my mother looked like the ghost under her bed. Christina claims the ghost under her bed just stared at her for a long time.
I know that my mother does not have a head stone on her grave. We just simply cannot afford one. But I wonder is that why she is haunting us?
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