My Story

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1946 to 2007
aged: 60
From: Brewton Alabama

David Lynn Ripple, 60
6/18/46 to 1/14/07
Brewton, Alabama

On 1/13/07 I drove past Daddy's house. I wasn't gonna stop because I was in a hurry and he was hard to get away from. As I drove by I noticed that he was sitting on his front porch. I had to turn around and go back. I decided to make time for Daddy. I sat on his porch with him and visited for two hours. It was such a good visit. We played songs and sang along together. We talked about all kinds of things, including some food items that he was running out of. This was a saturday and I was going to have money on thursday. As I was leaving I told him that I would be back thursday to take him to get some groceries. My last words to him were,"See ya thursday".
The next day I was at home (7 miles from my dad's house) painting the kitchen. I had been happy and energetic all day. All of a sudden I got cranky and blue, for no reason. I was even thinking to myself,"What's wrong with me?" Then there was a knock on the door. It was a woman who I know, but has never came to my house. She's a sister to my dad's neighbor. I said,"Hey, what are you doing out here?" She looked serious and ask where Pat was (he's my fiance). She said, "I gotta tell you something but I want him to be in here with you". I got him in there with me and she said,"They found your dad on his porch." My thoughts were, "And? Tell me something. Is he okay? Is he hurt? Is he dead?" Then I ask the question,"Is he dead?" She either didn't know for sure or didn't want to tell me. I didn't really get an answer. Pat and I took off flying to go to Daddy's house, and met my daughter on the hiway, headed to my house. At that point, I knew. I said,"He's dead. Here comes Crystal to tell me". We pulled over along the road and she turned around and pulled up behind us. She got out of her car and she was crying. She walked straight to me and started hugging me. I said,"Is he dead?" She said,"Yeah". He was on his back and his head was hanging off the porch into a bush. A sharp branch of the bush was stuck into his head. I guess he must have fell. We still don't really know what happened. I just can't hardly believe it.
I lost my mom in 1994(age 47) and my brother in 2005(age 34). Now Daddy's gone too. I have one more brother and a sister. I have one adult child and her 3 kids. I have an aunt and uncle and some cousins. All my grandparents are also gone. Grandpa was only 54 when he died. It seems like everybody in my family is dying, and none of them are old enough.
Well, I'll have to work on this some more later. This is really starting to get me down.


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