Richie is My Name's video: My Momma s Ghosts

"My Momma's Ghosts" ((Richard D. Olson)) © 2017. Performed by OLE. Taken from the CD “GOD & GOMORRAH” © 2019. All Rights Reserved. [Vocal: Rik / Guitar & Arrangement: Leo de Leon / Bass and Percussion: Lucky Lew / Production: Lucky Lew (Recorded December 2017)] My mother, Sharrilyn Johnson Olson, was haunted by ghosts. Her own ghosts. She was a beautiful, charismatic, thoughtful and highly intelligent woman, yet she was shaken by events in her childhood that left her wounded and emotionally unreconciled. In her later years alprazolam 1 mg tablets and whiskey became her solace; bouts of mental illness drove family and friends away; and numerous, well-meaning yet totally ridiculous attempts at reconciliation ended always in failure. We tried everything but nothing seemed to work. Mom was hell-bent on destroying herself and wouldn’t stop until her mission was completed. She got her wish on February 12, 2009. Standing at her bedside, my sister and I watched horrified as our mother, hooked up to pulsating tubes and beeping machines, heaved and puffed as life escaped her once beautiful face. For all Mom’s self-destructive tendencies, she seemed now to be digging in and flat-out refusing Death's beck and call. She wasn’t ready to die, and it seemed, wasn't going out without a fight. My sister tried calming her, whispering in her ear and caressing her cheek, urging her to go "into the light" and "find Jesus" and "rest in peace." Nothing doing. Nothing about her death was easy. Nothing about her life was easy. And nothing could prepare us for a death that was years in the making. SIDE-NOTE: It is everyone's responsibility to help prevent and stop child sexual assault. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is designed to assist and support victims of sexual assault. The phone call is free and totally anonymous. Call 800.656.HOPE (4673). There is no shame in asking for help. Richard D. Olson, December 2017 Credits and acknowledgements: Leo and Lucky for their expertise and input; computer graphics/video & picture content: the Olson family and various (and scary) GIFs from a random Google search; child abuse statistics and data sourced from the following: www.rainn.org; victimsofcrime.org; saffroncentre.com; www.d2l.org; and www.nsopw.gov. "My Momma's Ghosts" ((Richard D. Olson)) © 2017. Performed by OLE. Taken from the CD “GOD & GOMORRAH” © 2019. All Rights Reserved. [Vocal: Rik / Guitar & Arrangement: Leo de Leon / Bass and Percussion: Lucky Lew / Production: Lucky Lew (Recorded December 2017)]