Never a Dull Moment

The past 10 days have been anything but dull for me.

I came home last Friday evening to find that my apartment had been broken into. The front door had been kicked in, and the door frame lay at my feet. YIKES! Naturally being a curious, control freak, I went into my apartment to check things out before making any phone calls. DISCLAIMER: Don’t try this at home! I would recommend those in a similar situation to return to their car and dial 9-1-1 instead. Don’t follow my zany methods. I wasn’t thinking clearly.

Within 10 minutes, the apartment complex staff, the maintenance guy, the courtesy office and a police officer all arrived on the scene, and the investigation was underway. The thief appears to have been after mostly large ticket items, which would sell quickly and fetch the most money. He absconded with electronic goods such as:

flat screen TV (sigh!)
DVD player
laptop (BIG SIGH!)
2 digital cameras (sniffle, sniffle!)
some of my DVDs (68 are missing).

I am completely over the missing TV, the DVD player and the DVDs. It’s just stuff. All of which is totally replaceable. And hey, I wasn’t crazy about all of those movies anyway, and so I’m not sure I will replace them all.

I am slowly coming to terms with the missing cameras, too, but I confess, it has been a bit harder to adjust to my missing appendage. HA! Most of you know, I usually have a camera with me at all times, and so a couple of times this last week, I have reached for my camera only to recall that I no longer own one. SIGH! Fear not, that will soon be remedied, I am sure, and I will be back to my photo-crazed frame of reference, so to speak.

However, there is one item that I am struggling to cope over its loss, and that is my laptop. I had not downloaded all of my photos from 2009 onto thumb drives yet or uploaded them to share, etc., and so now some of my pictures from 2009 and 2010 are lost to me. Fortunately, my sister and I frequently share photos, and so a lot of my family pictures from 2009 are already in her possession, which makes me quite happy because now she can share them with me. In addition, I had the England photos backed up onto CD already. WOOHOO!! I was elated when I remembered those additional copies.

But the second big whammy is that it isn’t just the pictures that are now gone from view. Truthfully, I have been on a writing frenzy the last few months (most of which I have not shared), and a lot of that was on my personal laptop. DEEP BREATH, MEL! That is hard to swallow. Now don’t laugh, but I had recently started putting together chapters for a book. Seriously what are the odds! Now, I don’t think it was ever going to be published. It was simply a collection of my thoughts, dreams, conversations with GOD, etc., but no matter what I intended to do with it, those pages are lost to me now, and that saddens me. I’ve been scribbling down the the fragments still floating around in my mind, but I fear that in my distraction of late, most of the good stuff is gone for good.

BUT honestly, I keep coming back to the fact that I have loads to be thankful for…

That I was not home during my recent visitors excursion into my home.

That the stuff taken was mostly replaceable items, and that the damage to my apartment itself was limited to the door frame.

That GOD kept me safe. I don’t know exactly when the robbery took place, but regardless, GOD kept me away from the scene until it was all done and over with.

That the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrived on the scene within minutes and took charge of the situation.

That GOD kept me calm for most of the evening and has given me peace. I can’t explain it. I can’t define it. I can be high-strung and a wee bit intense, but I’ve been pretty calm the last week. I have had a moment or two of panic and fear, but I have honestly sensed GOD’s presence, and I have known that HE has been right here with me.

That the apartment office and maintenance staff along with the courtesy officer have been kind and considerate.

That my visitors were so careful with my furniture and the other belongings they chose to leave behind. Seriously, they seemed to know exactly what they were after, and removed the items without damaging anything else, which I do appreciate. They did not ransack my apartment either for which I am truly grateful.

That my friends and family have responded with such amazing support and love. I have truly been blessed by their generosity and kindness to me.