Ghost: The Rick Watkinson Story

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Rick Watkinson was a typical American kid growing up with his mother, father, and brother in California. Idolizing his father Robert, a pilot, the young boy reveled in their shared passion for flying and fostering their adventurous spirit sailboat racing and travelling. But the strength of that father-son bond was crushed when his father filed for divorce soon after moving the family to Oregon. Ten-year-old Rick was devastated - unable to comprehend his father's wicked betrayal of the family. With his bitter and vengeful mother's help, the love for his father quickly turned to hate. The center of his universe became the center of his scorn. Consumed by her own hatred and personal issues, his mother was unable to offer him the support and security his confused psyche needed and craved. God would save them she said. God would look after them. They just had to believe and pray - don the armour in the fight against Satan and his army of demons. Ricky would lead the way, with his 'special gift' he was 'Christ's Little Warrior'. Darkness, light, light, darkness. With his emotions slammed tight behind an iron wall of resolve, Rick and his lost soul took to the streets, finding comfort and his voice, among the criminals and socially angry young adults. They became his strength. They became his guide. If fences needed to be jumped, things stolen or sabotaged, it was often 'crazy little Ricky' who was asked to do the deed. This built confidence, and finally made him feel like he was a part of something again. Unable to control him, his mother kicks him out of the house. Trapped into coming home, Rick is confronted by his father and given a choice - either come live in Alaska with him and his wife or be dropped off at the police station. Rick chose door number one, the apparent lessor of two evils. With that choice his fate was sealed, and for the next thirteen months, his life in Alaska was a cage match with each party throwing punches, the violence and tension escalating with each round. His only solace was his participation in the Navy JROTC, a place where he found peace and a sense of purpose. Early in the evening of November 30, 1995 his father informed Rick that because it was interfering with his school, he was pulling him from the Navy JROTC. The first blow landed. After a prolonged argument with his wife, Robert Watkinson informed his sixteen-year-old son that he was to be gone from the house before sunrise the next morning. No money, no plane ticket back to Oregon, just a kick out the door into the dead of an Alaskan winter. It was more than he could take. "Ghost" is the true story of Rick Watkinson, his journey from a tumultuous childhood, to his current stay and personal growth behind the thick steel bars in an Alaskan State Penitentiary. Who is this man and what causes a person to cross the boundaries of humanity? Can these events be strictly traced to upbringing and environment, or do some people have an inherent propensity for evil? Is redemption or rehabilitation even possible? Watkinson's compelling story and subsequent trial and extremely harsh sentencing raise serious questions about society in general, the treatment of minors, and the power of the American justice system. Stripped down to its core, this is a story of a boy who just wanted to be loved. A boy who just wanted to belong, and be a part of a family, whatever that incarnation of a family might have been. He has spent his entire life searching, testing the different philosophical and ideological strains to find some semblance of who he is. He is not asking for forgiveness nor is he expecting us to give it. His life is his life, and his mistakes are his mistakes. He cannot change the past or give life to his father and step-mother. He can only move forward, continuing to find the light in a life of darkness.