Friday, November 26, 2010

Samantha Gray Bat... the beginning

Samantha entered this lifetime during turmoil, activism and a great shift in the way of life in the United States.

She was born to Fredrick Milton and Maxine Milton. She was the youngest sister of 4 siblings. Later in Samantha's life she chose to take on her Maternal Grandmother's last name

Samantha was born during the Vietnam war. Her Father, Fred was a mechanic for the Air Force and the family moved a lot. Only a few years into the marriage he stopped moving the family around and basically abandoned them soon after the third child was born. They survived on the wages Samantha's mom made waiting tables. On occasion Fred would show up drunk and desperate for money while on leave from the war and on a drinking binge. Samantha's mom would try to fight Fred from taking the money but the beatings were more than she could endure. Soon Samantha's mom learned to just hand him her purse and fix him food and then send him along with his friends.

A year passed and Maxine had already sent divorce papers to Fred, he refused to sign and the battle was on to get the divorce. Maxine started dating a man that she had known from high school. She was, for the first time, really in love and happy. Fred got leave as soon as he heard about Michael and Maxine and was home without warning. Maxine had plans to move across the country from California to Florida to be Michael. He didn't care if it took years for the divorce he and Maxine were in love and were determined to be together.

Maxine was in the kitchen packing a pic nic lunch to go meet Michael at a park. The children were with her friend a few blocks away. She was happy and singing as she packed the food. She heard a noise and turned around to see Fred standing just feet from her. She could see he was angry. She tried to talk but before a full word left her lips he was next to her and punched her in the face. She fell back as she passed out.

Seconds later she came to and found Fred ripping her new blouse off of her. He ripped her skirt of as she fought and he hit her again and again as she screamed. She fought and struggled to get away but before she could make it to the hall way, he was rapping her. Fred stayed for hours repeatedly rapping Maxine. The friend of Maxine's showed up with the children but Fred answered the door and accepted the children in. The neighbor confused, but happy to see that the marriage must be working out she left without question.

Fred stayed 3 days and for 3 days Maxine lived in hell. She was forced to pretend to the children she was fine and in a car accident and she cooked and cleaned and played house. Fred made her serve his food and wait on him hand and foot. He would often take her to the room and rape her throughout the day.

The oldest brother Robert asked where Michael was and Fred said that he had died in that horrible car crash his Mommy was in. Robert began to cry and Fred beat him. Maxine tried to stop him. She grabbed him and soon Fred was beating everyone in the family that came close to him.

Finally Fred had to leave to go back to Vietnam. When Maxine's friend showed up to see how things were she stated, "I didn't know that you were in the car with Michael". "There was no car crash Denine!" Maxine snapped. "But, how did you face get like that and so is Michael not really dead?" "No Denine, he's not. My husband lied so he could do this to me." "Oh my Gosh Maxie, I am so sorry that Fred did this to you. It's the war you know. He will get better. But Maxie, Fred didn't tell me Michael was dead, I read it in the paper".

Maxine pushed passed Denine and ran outside. She gathered the papers that had been collecting on the porch for a few days. On the paper from the second day of Fred's stay it was there, a photo of a horrible car crash of a promising real estate mogul, Michael Samuel Adams, dead by an unexplained car accident.

Maxine fell to her knees crying.

After that week Maxine received began her life on the run from Fred. Soon after she discovered she was pregnant. Unsure if the baby belonged to Fred or Michael, she decided to keep it. She knew abortions were expensive and dangerous and the thought that she could be carrying Michael's baby made her live with hope through the pregnancy. She was taunted with nightmares at night that her baby would be born looking just like Fred. She had regular nightmares and flashbacks of her days of torture but she kept alive with hope that some part of Michael might still be alive in her.

Maxine began school and was studying to become a police officer. She was learning self defense and other skills that made her feel she would be able to not only protect herself and her children but provide for them.

Fred had heard that Maxine had settled down and was becoming a police officer. Out of embarrassment and out of the desire to remarry, he signed the divorce papers in February of 1968 and Samantha was born mid March of that same year.

A bastard child in the 60's, born to a divorced mom, a mom that was in a non traditional job and into poverty.

The family lived in Washington. Maxine was transferred around from Seattle, to Tacoma to Kirkland and to Spokane. It seemed having a woman on the police force was a bit uncomfortable for the departments during those times so they tried to make it uncomfortable for Maxine as well. A divorced woman police officer was  a bit of embarrassment.

Right away in Samantha's life she struggled with health. She was born premature and very small. Five pounds and she spent her first weeks of life in an incubator away from her mom. Maxine would come to the hospital when she could but she had to work right away and study too.

Samantha's first few years she suffered greatly from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and a couple of times from Spinal Meningitis. Her family was told she wouldn't make it and what short life she would live, she wouldn't walk much.

Samantha was pronounced dead for almost 9 minutes when she was only 2 years old. She came back just as they were about to take her lifeless body out of the operating room.

This may be the beginning of her near death experiences and close calls. I say may be, because from birth, she had stopped breathing on several occasions. This time was the first time that paper work was actually began on her.

Maxine started to notice that Samantha looked just like her oldest brother Robert and was torn on how she felt about her. Maxine started leaving Samantha more and more at a sitter's home until finally she asked if Samantha could just live there most of the time. From the time Samantha was about a year old she spent more and more time away from her family besides the time in the hospital.

She came home for a week when she was about 3 years old. Her older sister was sick and looked very funny. They were in a constant flow between the doctors, hospital and home. They found out her sister was dying. She was had a problem in her brain and they had to operate. After the operation, her 6 year old sister was blind. There were complications and the surgeon caused the blindness.

Maxine was distraught and overwhelmed. She didn't bother to sue the doctors; she just wanted her daughter to be OK. From this moment on, they spent at least one month each year in a hospital somewhere in the North West for surgeries for Christie. Samantha was a burden until she was old enough to become Christy's care taker. It wasn't long though  because by age 8 Maxine discovered how independent and capable Samantha was and from then on, much of the care of Christie was Samantha's responsibility.

Samantha's life started out rough and went down hill from here....
Yet, her life wasn't all doom and gloom even amidst the harshest of times.

Samantha had gifts that she kept secret for the most part. Most people just thought that Samantha had a great imagination. Little did they know, the supernatural and wacky world Samantha talked about was real, well most of it anyway.

And little did Samantha know during her youth, that her experiences were far from normal.

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