Summary

The web content describes a personal story of coping with loss and the hope for reunion, juxtaposed with a real-life account of a family reunited with their believed-to-be-dead relative after 16 years.

Abstract

The article is a poignant narrative that delves into the emotional journey of the author, Ruby, who lost her father at a young age and often imagines his return. It contrasts her heartfelt fantasies with the astonishing true story of Abrip Asep, an Indonesian police officer presumed dead after the 2004 tsunami, who was found alive in a psychiatric hospital years later. The narrative explores themes of grief, imagination, and the resilience of hope, while highlighting the profound impact of unexpected reunions and the complexities of closure.

Opinions

Ruby expresses a deep longing for her father and often envisions his continued presence in her life, indicating a strong emotional connection that transcends his physical absence.
The author reflects on the pain of loss and the comfort found in imaginative scenarios where her

My Dad Was Declared Dead For Over A Decade

Imagine this was your story.

I was 19 years old when my dad passed away suddenly. My heart still aces when I think of the phone call I received from my little brother.

“Ruby, you need to come home. Dad died.” My whole world stopped, my heart broke into a million pieces and nothing was ever like it was before.

Now, 8 years later I still miss him terribly — and sometimes, on weak days, I cry myself to sleep and let my creative mind wander a little bit, into the corners of my mind where I hide the pain and the mess of his death created.

I imagine how life would be if he were still here with me. I imagine that his hair would have become a little grey, maybe he would have to wear glasses which he would hate, but he would still be the funny and reliable person that made me feel safe.

In these moments, I imagine that one day he would just come home. He would ring the doorbell and there he would be, smiling at me.

“Ruby,” he would say, “I’m so sorry that you had to go through all this pain. It was all a big misunderstanding. I didn’t die, of course, I didn’t.”

Of course, he didn’t. He was my dad, and he was undefeatable, unstoppable, unhurtable. “The nightmare is over”, he would say, and I would hug him and never let go.

“I’m back.”

Sometimes, in very rare moments, I feel a deep connection even though of course, I always wake up from this dream and a part of me always knows that this is just an imagination.

But for a family far away, this dream became a reality

I read a story the other day about how this dream became a reality for a family in Indonesia. They went through the disaster that most of us will remember from our television screens: A big tsunami hit the coast in 2004, with waves as big as mountains, burying 230.000 lives beneath them.

Many bodies were found and brought back to their families. But some people just disappeared, swallowed by the ocean, never to be seen again. Relatives had to bury empty coffins and had to live with the feeling of never knowing what happened to their beloved ones.

This, according to the daily mail, is what happened to the family of Abrip Asep, a cop that was on duty when the catastrophic tsunami struck Indonesia on the day they would never forget. He went to help on the scene and was reported missing by his family. When he didn’t return and his body wasn’t found among the dead, he was later declared dead.

Now, 16 years after this catastrophic event, the unbelievable happened: He was found alive in a psychiatric hospital where he has lived ever since that day. He was suffering from a mental breakdown due to seeing all the trauma on that fatal day.

He was reunited with his family, which heartbroken hearts were healed and their dream of seeing their lost loved one has become real.

Can you imagine finding someone you have been missing for almost two decades and who you thought would be gone irrevocably?

Imagine all the things he has missed — maybe the weddings of his children, uncountable birthday parties, and also the normal life struggles that he would have been a part of. Now, they are reunited and can talk about all that has happened — and the future is theirs to create, together.

Sometimes, when I read stories like this, I hope maybe we can reunite with the people we love and that we lost.

But then again I know, for me, that that’s not possible.

Maybe in a parallel world, my dad and I are still together, living happily ever after as a family. Maybe in this parallel universe. He gets to know my kids and walks me down the aisle one day.

Tonight, I believe that’s true. Tonight, I believe that this world is existing.

Tonight, in my imagination, we are united.