Holiday Fear

The holiday season is supposed to be all about family, friends, giving, and a whole lot of joy and happiness. Apparently it is about taking as well. For my family it has also become about some punk hoodlums that felt they had the right to reach into my space and take what does not belong to them. They took my hard earned items as if they had some superior right to them.

I woke up just before 5am the other morning to a very loud repeated banging noise. I could not for the life of me figure out what it was. I saw the time and thought it was a neighbor scraping the ice and snow off his windsheild. I remember thinking if he kept that up he was going to break his window. I peeked out my window. My bedroom is right above the garage so my window looks out front to the driveway. To my complete horror there was a dark figure standing next to my husband's vehicle. Not thinking, I ran to the bigger window in the common area and opened it and screamed. These coward punks ran towards another vehicle parked in the street out front and sped away. Did it stop them? Hell no! They went on to another street and the police said that we were victim number 140. There were 6 victims on my street alone.

At that very moment my life changed. It was as if they had reached in and stolen a piece of who I was. I would never be the same person again. I felt a chill that made my very soul shiver. I immediately thought of my children. What if it had been my house instead of my vehicle? The thought of someone coming into my house uninvited left me feeling ill. Horrible thoughts of things that could happen rushed through my head. I could not stop them. I took for granted that I was safe. I live in a decent neighborhood and never imagined this kind of thing would happen here. It is not until something like this happens that you stop and think about all the areas in your life you are vulnerable to this kind of attack. We feel a sense of security along with the denial that something like this could happen to US. This is only something you ever hear about on the news. Sadly I am left feeling that even though I have checked the doors and windows numerous times I need to check them one more time. Every single strange noise outside is a repeat violation in my head.

As a result, I have gotten up off of my butt and reactivated the alarm in my house. When we moved in I kept putting it off thinking I was safe and there was no need. I urge you all to have a very wonderful and safe holiday season. Please take a moment to think about where you might be vulnerable. Do not fall into the same trap that I did and let your guard down. Please please learn from my mistake in an effort to keep yourself and your family safe during this holiday season. The lowest of low are out there waiting to take advantage of good people. Unfortunately this is a part of life and as I have been told repeatedly these last couple of days, it is a part of this time of year.

I am angry and afraid. I have had my time to voice my fears and hopefully help someone think twice and be safe. Now I have to work towards forgiveness and move on. I will never forget and will always be thinking about how the things I do makes me vulnerable.

God bless