David's Senior Ring - WWW '71- An AMAZING sign from God :)
Susan WashingtonIt was in the spring of 2002 and I had graduated from rehab after spending six months there. I was living with my father in Chandler's Landing in Rockwall. One day the phone rang and a woman on the other end asked me if she could speak to Richard David DeFace ( that was my brother). I asked her if she meant Richard Hall DeFace ( my father) and she said no it is Richard David DeFace and he graduated from Woodrow Wilson in 1971. I was shocked and began to shake slightly. Grabbing for the nearest chair I had to sit down, it took my breath away.
Not knowing what to say I decided to just tell the truth. " I am sorry ma’am but Richard David DeFace is deceased and has been since 1971" She sighed and said she was so very sorry. The reason for her call was she had bought some furniture from an estate sale in Mabank, Texas and she found a senior ring from Woodrow Wilson 1971 with the initials RDD engraved inside. The ring was in one of the drawers of a desk she bought. She decided to research this ring to see if she could return it to the owner. After a lot of detective work and calls it was determined that the only Woodrow graduate of 1971 with the initials RDD was my brother. (By this point I was very emotional because she was so kind and I didn’t have anything that belonged David. As I have said to this day I can’t remember David in life, I only remember his death and the tragic events that followed.)
After determining the owner of the ring she set out to find him which was an easy task, there were not many Richard DeFace’s in the Dallas area or anywhere for that matter ( one time a facebook app said it would tell you how many people on facebook had your name, I put in DeFace and the answer was zero) We then talked , I cried and she said she would mail me the ring. I never told my dad because even in 2002 we did not acknowledge that David existed. I checked the mail each day hoping this was not a prank and about a week later a package arrived. It was David’s ring gold with a ruby stone and the letters RDD engraved inside. I cherished it believing it was a sign from God, I wasn’t sure what it meant but it was so very special to me.
I wish I could say I still had that ring but I don’t. I relapsed and got locked up not long after this, my father got extremely ill and spent six months in the hospital. While he was there his home was foreclosed on and all the belongings were removed or stolen. I don’t know what happened to all of his stuff but the ring disappeared with everything else. There are many unanswered questions to this story: why was the ring in Mabank in the first place? where is it now? If I wouldn’t have relapsed I would probably still have that part of my brother but my hopes and prayers today are for God to bring memories of my brother to the surface of my mind that I can hold in my heart. The ring would be special but it is only a piece of metal, the memories I would cherish and hold in my heart forever.
( this was my dad's house in Chandler's Landing. You can see the balcony that led from the gameroom. I had the ring hidden in the gameroom in a little box. I thought about asking the current owners if they happened to find a ring. I might do that :)) )
Reader Comments (2)
Evertime you mention David, even in your last entry about Date Violence, you said that I was "lying down in your childhood room." Now, I don't know if ever that was your room, but I think that I know that it was David's room. If I am not mistaken, it was the room where your Mother went to sleep and never woke up.
There is a picture of you Susan. You are a litte toe~head, around nine, in a little 2-piece bathing suit on a pier with your Dad and a friend of his. You are in front and they are holding a fish in a B&W snap. I think this man is pertinent. Maybe it was his car that sat in your driveway for so long. Maybe he was who came and told your family about David, in the days before cell phones or even land lines, at the Lake.
Susan, what happened to your James Avery ring? Mine, I have dreamed of and hope to see in person again. I have reason to hope and reason to fear that I won't, yet I am not on the move like you are and yet again, one certain person doesn't visit your home.
Susan, you are so careful with your things particularly things of importance to you and those of others. Did you talk about this already? I encourage you to make contact with the Chandler's Landing family. Most folks who find things like that, in homes like that, say, "I wish that I knew how to return this. It's probably is meaningful to someone."
Everyone has lost something of value, and certainly of sentimental value. Just thinking about that is awesome.
Concerning the room : I was referring to my childhood room that was attached to my teenage room by the pink bathroom :) That is where you were the night referred to in my blog on dating violence, I still thank God for you about that night :))David's room was across the hall and never in use. Mother died in my childhood room.
I hope to find my James Avery ring it just came flying off last night. Which one did you lose ?
I think I will contact the owners of the home in Chandlers. Maybe I could go through that home . Lov eyou Patti !!