Post by Darlene McGregory on Apr 11, 2009 10:55:17 GMT
Full Name: Mrs. Darlene McGregory
Age: 40
Gender: female
Base Class/Sub Class: Health Worker/Registered Nurse Midwife
Strengths:[/b] Having spent the last fifteen years of her life working in the medical field, Darlene has learned her way around a hospital. Though she may specialize in prenatal care and delivering infants, she like all other nurses had to go through at least basic medical training and retain some of that knowledge. What most people don't understand about her career is that it is both one of the most rewarding and challenging ones in the medical field; when everything goes as it should, there is no happier time in life but when things do not, she has to deal with grieving parents or in worse cases widows.
When not with her patients, she is busy with her other job. Unlike with being a nurse, parenting is a full time job. It takes lots of patents and understanding, more so because one of her children happens be autistic . Among other things, she must be strong of both heart and will for both of her boys and herself.
One of her greatest strengths has to be that of faith. When her world came crashing down on her and all else seemed to fall apart, it was her belief in a higher power that kept her going. After everything that has happened, it was her husband's words that stuck with her. It was he who had brought God into their lives and it was she that had kept Him alive. It is this faith, this hope that something better is coming that keeps her head held high as she greets each new day.
weaknesses:[/b] Darlene is far from being perfect. Nobody is perfect but she has done things in her life that she later learned to regret, namely the affair. The affair and the guilt that torments her for it everyday. She was not proud of her actions but by then it was too late. Even though she ended her secret relationship with her coworker, (she refuses to use his name) God chose to punish her for her actions. He gifted her with a child that she had not wanted and so late in life.
Having been trapped within her basement for the last few months, Darlene has had to learn to keep all of her emotions bottled up inside of her. On the outside she must appear strong for the boys but on the inside, she has learned to store up all the worried, sad, scared emotions that she can't share with her children. She is an emotional time bomb waiting to blow and hopefully her children won't be around when that happens.
Physical Description: Darlene has never been the most attractive woman on the street. Most would describe her as homely, warm and kind-hearted. As the wife of a minister, she tends to dress more on the conservative side, never showing too much skin. At five foot six inches tall, she is what would be classified as average height for a woman. Her weight, which she doesn't care to discus, is slightly over that same average level yet some of that is due to five months of pregnancy hanging just below the waist. Atop her head sits shoulder length red-brown hair that match her eyes.
Personality: Most people see Darlene as a kind-hearted person with a positive outlook on life. Some part of her believes that by projecting this onto others that she will in some way feel better about herself. With no physical contact other then with her boys, over the past few months, she has lost some of the ability to form normal conversations or relationships with others. She has played the part of the strong willed mother non stop and is likely to react to others in a similar manner or breakdown, depending on the circumstance.
History: Mrs. Darlene McGregory was always a simple girl. Simple in the way that she never sought an extravagant life for herself, not as in simple of the mind. So when the local minister, Mr. Ira McGregory had asked her for her hand in marriage, she had been more then happy to give it to him.
The two of them had grown up together. As children, they spent many summers playing together in the botanical gardens. What happy times those were. Like all children, they chased each other under the warm sun. With nets in hand, they laughed carelessly with hopes of catching insects of all kinds. Though they often came away empty handed, never was their fun together dulled by this fact.
As they grew, so did the feelings they had for each other. Bug catching in the park soon led to dates at the theater. What little time they could claim away from their busy lives, they tried to spend together. They were young and they were in love. It was obvious that they were meant to be together and at that time in their lives, they had been willing to fight for it.
But they had been young. Despite their busy work loads, they had decided to try to make a life work together. At first, their happy little life went just as planned. He had become minister to the Williamsberg church and she had received her nursing license. They bought a small house together and and watched as their dreams came true.
Then she became pregnant.
Being a family full of faith both Ira and Darlene welcomed their son Matthew into the world. He had been a blessing from God granted to the new family. He was sweet, innocent and autistic. The young couple found themselves struggling to manage work, family and caring for a child with a developmental problem. Though they loved each other very much, Matthew become the subject of many problems within their marriage.
And being that same family of faith, Darlene was determined to struggle to hold their family together. Ira often tried to help with his words of spiritual guidance but with time, it only seemed to drive drive them apart. Still though, Darlene loved him very much.
Then came the birth of Johnathan. The fighting which had quieted down a bit in the last year, started up again. They fought more out of fear that their second child would turn out similar to their first. It wasn't that they didn't love Matt, they loved him deeply but it was hard raising a child with a severe disorder. If Johnathan had developed the same disorder as his older brother, it might have forced the family apart. Luckily that was not the case.
Afterwords, Ira seemed more withdrawn. He buried himself in work as much as possible. As he put it, the Lord called to him and he was but a servant in the service. Or it might just have been his excuse to get away from his problems at home as much as possible. He would spend entire days away from home. Always it seemed someone needed his help, someone other then his family and he was always there for them.
For a while Darlene was fine with this. When they were apart, they weren't arguing. The family could go on living as much in that happy little life they wanted, as long as they were apart. As time went by, she grew lonely.
Sure they weren't fighting but neither was he there for the happy moments in life. Neither was he there to comfort and show affection for his wife when she went to bed alone each night. She needed more then a ring on her finger and a face that her children called father. Darlene was a woman and she needed a partner in life. She never planned to be disloyal to her husband, she loved him still, even if he wasn't there for her.
But it happened none the less. A short relationship sparked between Darlene and one of her male coworkers from the clinic. It didn't last long because it had never really been about romance. She didn't love this man like she did Ira, she only wanted someone who was there for her when she needed it, someone who would listen to her and bring her a small amount of comfort after a long day.
Guilt overcame her. She keep on living the secret life and had to end her affair before the other man got any ideas of making more of their relationship. By the time she had ended it, she was already pregnant. With but a simple count on her fingers, she knew right away that it couldn't be Ira's but she didn't have the heart to tell him. She didn't want to push him further away and lose the father of her children.
That is when all hell broke loose. People all over the city were coming down with some strange illness. Ira spent more then the normal amount of time away from home. He claimed to be doing God's work, he felt that the end was near and as people flocked to his church like never before, he had to prepare people for what was to come next. If only he knew the truth.
Darlene took the boys out of school. If there was some sort of strange illness going around, she didn't want her boys to become it's next victims. The three of them planned to wait the quarantine off until that was that the military cut off their power and water. In fear of looters and anyone else that would ransack their quiet little home, they locked themselves in the basement.
They waited there, through all the long hours. In the dark, damp room they waited there all those long hours. Days passed and the boys insistently asked about their father. "When is daddy coming home?" they would ask but she had no answers for them. What did come back though wasn't Ira. At one time it may have been, but the mad thing that beat on the outside of the door for days without ending was not their father, not her husband. It was but a monster of the former man they had loved.
Then one day the pounding stopped. It was unclear as to if he had given up and gone away, died or if he simply sat up stairs waiting for them to open the door. So they continued to wait. They waited in the dark, surviving those long three months off what disaster rations they had stored in case of an emergency.
NPCs: Matthew McGregory is Darlene's eight-year-old autistic son. He looks much more like his father and though he doesn't really talk he is a very sweet little boy who loves to color.
Johnathan McGregory is Darlene's five-year-old son and is quite the little charmer for his age. He can be manipulative at times but he is also very protective of his brother.
Age: 40
Gender: female
Base Class/Sub Class: Health Worker/Registered Nurse Midwife
Strengths:[/b] Having spent the last fifteen years of her life working in the medical field, Darlene has learned her way around a hospital. Though she may specialize in prenatal care and delivering infants, she like all other nurses had to go through at least basic medical training and retain some of that knowledge. What most people don't understand about her career is that it is both one of the most rewarding and challenging ones in the medical field; when everything goes as it should, there is no happier time in life but when things do not, she has to deal with grieving parents or in worse cases widows.
When not with her patients, she is busy with her other job. Unlike with being a nurse, parenting is a full time job. It takes lots of patents and understanding, more so because one of her children happens be autistic . Among other things, she must be strong of both heart and will for both of her boys and herself.
One of her greatest strengths has to be that of faith. When her world came crashing down on her and all else seemed to fall apart, it was her belief in a higher power that kept her going. After everything that has happened, it was her husband's words that stuck with her. It was he who had brought God into their lives and it was she that had kept Him alive. It is this faith, this hope that something better is coming that keeps her head held high as she greets each new day.
weaknesses:[/b] Darlene is far from being perfect. Nobody is perfect but she has done things in her life that she later learned to regret, namely the affair. The affair and the guilt that torments her for it everyday. She was not proud of her actions but by then it was too late. Even though she ended her secret relationship with her coworker, (she refuses to use his name) God chose to punish her for her actions. He gifted her with a child that she had not wanted and so late in life.
Having been trapped within her basement for the last few months, Darlene has had to learn to keep all of her emotions bottled up inside of her. On the outside she must appear strong for the boys but on the inside, she has learned to store up all the worried, sad, scared emotions that she can't share with her children. She is an emotional time bomb waiting to blow and hopefully her children won't be around when that happens.
Physical Description: Darlene has never been the most attractive woman on the street. Most would describe her as homely, warm and kind-hearted. As the wife of a minister, she tends to dress more on the conservative side, never showing too much skin. At five foot six inches tall, she is what would be classified as average height for a woman. Her weight, which she doesn't care to discus, is slightly over that same average level yet some of that is due to five months of pregnancy hanging just below the waist. Atop her head sits shoulder length red-brown hair that match her eyes.
Personality: Most people see Darlene as a kind-hearted person with a positive outlook on life. Some part of her believes that by projecting this onto others that she will in some way feel better about herself. With no physical contact other then with her boys, over the past few months, she has lost some of the ability to form normal conversations or relationships with others. She has played the part of the strong willed mother non stop and is likely to react to others in a similar manner or breakdown, depending on the circumstance.
History: Mrs. Darlene McGregory was always a simple girl. Simple in the way that she never sought an extravagant life for herself, not as in simple of the mind. So when the local minister, Mr. Ira McGregory had asked her for her hand in marriage, she had been more then happy to give it to him.
The two of them had grown up together. As children, they spent many summers playing together in the botanical gardens. What happy times those were. Like all children, they chased each other under the warm sun. With nets in hand, they laughed carelessly with hopes of catching insects of all kinds. Though they often came away empty handed, never was their fun together dulled by this fact.
As they grew, so did the feelings they had for each other. Bug catching in the park soon led to dates at the theater. What little time they could claim away from their busy lives, they tried to spend together. They were young and they were in love. It was obvious that they were meant to be together and at that time in their lives, they had been willing to fight for it.
But they had been young. Despite their busy work loads, they had decided to try to make a life work together. At first, their happy little life went just as planned. He had become minister to the Williamsberg church and she had received her nursing license. They bought a small house together and and watched as their dreams came true.
Then she became pregnant.
Being a family full of faith both Ira and Darlene welcomed their son Matthew into the world. He had been a blessing from God granted to the new family. He was sweet, innocent and autistic. The young couple found themselves struggling to manage work, family and caring for a child with a developmental problem. Though they loved each other very much, Matthew become the subject of many problems within their marriage.
And being that same family of faith, Darlene was determined to struggle to hold their family together. Ira often tried to help with his words of spiritual guidance but with time, it only seemed to drive drive them apart. Still though, Darlene loved him very much.
Then came the birth of Johnathan. The fighting which had quieted down a bit in the last year, started up again. They fought more out of fear that their second child would turn out similar to their first. It wasn't that they didn't love Matt, they loved him deeply but it was hard raising a child with a severe disorder. If Johnathan had developed the same disorder as his older brother, it might have forced the family apart. Luckily that was not the case.
Afterwords, Ira seemed more withdrawn. He buried himself in work as much as possible. As he put it, the Lord called to him and he was but a servant in the service. Or it might just have been his excuse to get away from his problems at home as much as possible. He would spend entire days away from home. Always it seemed someone needed his help, someone other then his family and he was always there for them.
For a while Darlene was fine with this. When they were apart, they weren't arguing. The family could go on living as much in that happy little life they wanted, as long as they were apart. As time went by, she grew lonely.
Sure they weren't fighting but neither was he there for the happy moments in life. Neither was he there to comfort and show affection for his wife when she went to bed alone each night. She needed more then a ring on her finger and a face that her children called father. Darlene was a woman and she needed a partner in life. She never planned to be disloyal to her husband, she loved him still, even if he wasn't there for her.
But it happened none the less. A short relationship sparked between Darlene and one of her male coworkers from the clinic. It didn't last long because it had never really been about romance. She didn't love this man like she did Ira, she only wanted someone who was there for her when she needed it, someone who would listen to her and bring her a small amount of comfort after a long day.
Guilt overcame her. She keep on living the secret life and had to end her affair before the other man got any ideas of making more of their relationship. By the time she had ended it, she was already pregnant. With but a simple count on her fingers, she knew right away that it couldn't be Ira's but she didn't have the heart to tell him. She didn't want to push him further away and lose the father of her children.
That is when all hell broke loose. People all over the city were coming down with some strange illness. Ira spent more then the normal amount of time away from home. He claimed to be doing God's work, he felt that the end was near and as people flocked to his church like never before, he had to prepare people for what was to come next. If only he knew the truth.
Darlene took the boys out of school. If there was some sort of strange illness going around, she didn't want her boys to become it's next victims. The three of them planned to wait the quarantine off until that was that the military cut off their power and water. In fear of looters and anyone else that would ransack their quiet little home, they locked themselves in the basement.
They waited there, through all the long hours. In the dark, damp room they waited there all those long hours. Days passed and the boys insistently asked about their father. "When is daddy coming home?" they would ask but she had no answers for them. What did come back though wasn't Ira. At one time it may have been, but the mad thing that beat on the outside of the door for days without ending was not their father, not her husband. It was but a monster of the former man they had loved.
Then one day the pounding stopped. It was unclear as to if he had given up and gone away, died or if he simply sat up stairs waiting for them to open the door. So they continued to wait. They waited in the dark, surviving those long three months off what disaster rations they had stored in case of an emergency.
NPCs: Matthew McGregory is Darlene's eight-year-old autistic son. He looks much more like his father and though he doesn't really talk he is a very sweet little boy who loves to color.
Johnathan McGregory is Darlene's five-year-old son and is quite the little charmer for his age. He can be manipulative at times but he is also very protective of his brother.
