A save haven destroyed

Last night Millie and I (and Ellery) all left home around 4:30 as we usually do on Wednesday nights... Millie to work, Ellery to the in-laws and me to class. Ellery and I didn't feel well and almost decided to return home early, around 5pm; but I ended up going to class. Class got out at 7pm and I picked up Ellery and headed home. I opened the garage, pulled my car in, closed the garage, got the diaper bag, my back pack and Ellery. Arms full, I turned the knob to enter the house from the garage but was stopped in my tracks as I heard rustling noises inside.

I was terrified.

My first thought was that maybe some animals (wild dogs, deer or a mountain lion) had gotten into the house... then I heard whispers, the front door open, running feet and the door slam shut. At hearing the whispers, my first thought was, I'm going to be shot and Ellery will be killed or taken, or left for dead... every worse case scenario ran through my mind in a matter of seconds.

Still frozen in place, I pulled out my cell and called 911. After what felt like half an hour, but in reality it was maybe 5-10 min, of waiting in my car in the closed garage, police arrived.

They went in and cleared the house.

Inside police found that locked doors were kicked in, drawers, cupboards, cabinets and closets were opened and ransacked, the one ton Liberty safe (which belongs to the homeowners) was laying on the living room floor with various pry bars wedged into it. The door had been significantly compromised but they failed to get it fully open. The police had to open the safe all the way to verify that none of the hand guns that were supposed to be just inside were still there. It took the cops a matter of seconds, less than a minute, to pry the safe the rest of the way open -- in other words, if I were just a little later coming home, they (the intruders) would have had full access to all that the safe contained. Although we're pretty sure the intruders got away with little, if anything, (and the homeowner is flying in from Hawaii right now to inventory everything), the one thing they did make off with was my safe haven, peace of mind and sense of security in my own home.

I don't know how to describe the feeling... it's something I think you just have to experience first hand (although I don't recommend it), and it makes a difference if it is your own (place you call) home as opposed to knowing someone that it happened to, or if your shed or storage unit was compromised. The feeling is amplified by the fact that I walked in on them (although I did not see them) while they were here in the act of violating my family's once safe place. On top of that, it really creeps me out to know that they must have been watching our place (and us) for some time, learning our schedules and scoping out the safe. There is a definite, different and uncomfortable feeling in the house now, even during the day, that I can only hope passes with time.

Despite all that has gone on in the past 18 hours or so, I am VERY grateful that things did not go as bad as they easily could have. Millie, Ellery and I are all okay. Also, as mentioned earlier, we think very little, if anything, was successfully taken. Shortly after police arrived I had received a call from our neighbors and the first counselor in the bishopric (although he didn't know anything was going on, and was only calling to ask Millie to speak in church on Sunday), and the bishop came by to make sure we were okay. Later that night as police were wrapping things up, another ward member, Rick Meizner, came by to see if we were okay too. Plus, Millie's dad, sister and brother-in-law came by to help me re-secure the home since locks were broken.

In all, Millie and I have been offered a place to live (if we wanted) for a while at three different homes, and have been called and checked up on by several others. Although my sense of security in this home is all but destroyed, my sense of security in family and friends throughout this community has been reassured, and again, I'm so thankful things were not as bad as they could have been.