Thoughts

Today was Uncle Duane's funeral. Mary and I went together (which is always nice) and met up with Mom and Don. Duane wasn't the one that any of us expected to go first and you could see it in all of his siblings faces. They are one of the closest families that I've ever seen and this was killing each and everyone of them. They were strong of course, but their eyes, those beautiful blue Ridd eyes were so full of loss and sadness. I hate seeing my Grandpa hurt like that. I have now watched him bury his Father, Mother, 2 wives, a son and now a brother. He handles it really well (on the outside) and is really strong "for all of us" BUT it still makes me sad.

Some of the things that they said today at the funeral touched me so deeply. Duane is the father of 6 girls. He was the perfect man for the job. He was such a loving, caring, considerate man and THAT is exactly what women need! Duane was a Lt. Colonel in the Air National Guard. He flew all sorts of planes and apparently he loved to buzz people. One time he had a friend out fishing on Utah Lake. He found him and dropped down and flew right over him! I would have died. Aunt Janet said that he used to buzz the house all the time just to say "hi"! Such a boy! His Bishop said that one night (actually at 3:30 am) he got a phone call. It was Aunt Janet. She said "Hi this is Janet Ridd. Our back fence (the shared fence) is on fire". Duane was already out trying to put it out. No need for the fire dept. when a Ridd is around! He and the Bishop put it out and THEN Duane came over a taught the Bishop how to build a fence. Duane was a worker. He served those around him and LOVED all he came in contact with. When he asked how you were doing he really wanted to know. AND HE NEVER FORGOT!!! He never talked about himself or all of his accomplishments. He just cared about others. I hope I can be like him. I will miss Uncle Duane like crazy, but I am so thankful that I got to know and love him.