After a few hours of tumultuous sleep, at 3:30am, I wake to the sound of a car alarm going off, but it quickly stops, and I turn over and fall back asleep.
At 4:30, there is a hard pounding at our front door. Never a good sign. The officer asks if the black SUV parked on the street outside our front door is mine. My foggy head suddenly jumps back to that car alarm going off about an hour ago...
The door to the driver's side had been unlocked with a screwdriver and left open, and the lady delivering newspapers thought it looked suspicious and called the police. I knew instantly that my old iPod that my husband gave me for my birthday many years ago was gone. It had been plugged into the radio. Little do they know the battery is dead. But they can pawn it anyway.
I also noticed that some CD's that had been on the floor were also missing. I guess they didn't like my taste in music, as the ones in my driver's door were left. They didn't touch the bags of vintage clothing or the unwrapped, brand new Harry Potter DVD that was staring them in the face from the back seat. I had to wait until the forensics officer came to fingerprint until I could climb in to see if there was anything else they took.
After she fingerprinted my car (who knows when those prints would even be processed), I opened the glove compartment to find that they weren't smart enough to take my husband's Garmin. It wasn't until after the officer left, and I was back inside my house that I realized in my sleepy state what else was missing:
My vintage Gucci Briefcase.
Contents: My Life.
The Briefcase has a history.... I bought it from the estate of a well known professor of Black Women's History, and while she lived in a small rental apartment, she surrounded herself with beautiful, expensive African art, Degas sketches, and a love for furs and good purses. Somehow, when I got to the estate sale, not everything had been priced, so I got my vintage Fendi wallet and this tan Gucci briefcase for a total of $21. And because I knew the strong woman it came from, it made me feel even that more powerful when I carried it. Plus, it was nice to look at.
It was filled with folders of all my current projects, both in and outside of work. Board meeting minutes, details for an upcoming Junior League event, parties and events I am planning. Everything I have going on in my life... It may or may not contain any personal information other than my e-mail addresses... I don't really know. I am just hoping the thief is not smart enough to somehow steal my identity through what little/lot of information is there. I'm sure at this point, the contents of my life were dumped in one of the trash cans at the park a block away. And you'd better believe that when the sun comes up, I am going down there to look.
Let me be clear about something.... all of these items are MATERIAL. I am upset about them now, and will be pissed about them when I have to take my car down to the dealership at 8am to get the lock fixed- something NOT on my party planning agenda. And I will be frustrated later when I have to try to get back all the information lost in those project folders when I get organized tomorrow. In the long run, I will get a new iPod and a new work bag and get all my stuff together, and the loss of these items will pass.
But what I did lose was my sense of security. Every time I get in my car, I now have to think about someone else being in it. And the fact that they needed money so badly that they had to use a screwdriver to open my car to steal an old iPod and a Gucci bag. If they had knocked on my door and asked, I would have given them the money these two items are worth, and maybe a few bucks more for their honesty and hardship. I also know some people get it much worse- their homes are broken into and more valuable things are taken. But in all cases, the thieves take our security.... something that doesn't have a price. THAT loss does not sit lightly with me, now nor will ever, and that is what I am most upset about.
But if you happen to see that Gucci, you know how to find me.
aww Natalie, that's terrible! When we lived in St. Petersburg T's truck was broken into right outside our house! (They actually took the truck!). It wasn't the truck that Tyler cared about it was a set of pens his Dad had given him that were his Grandfather's before they were his Dad's. Later that weekend we found the truck, but no pens. Then 2 weeks later, our neighbors were doing some yard work and putting a bunch of debris in the alley trashcans when they saw something shiny stuck in the ground.... needless to say, T was ecstatic! Don't give up hope :)
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that this had to happen to you. I don't think these "People" realize what they do when they rob from others. It isn't just the things that are gone it is truly your sense of security, not to mention the unbelievable hassle that goes along with picking up the pieces of the mess they created.
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