What a Week-End!

Holiday weekends are always busy. This one started out that way and then it took the strangest turn...

We woke up Friday morning to a beautiful day. A little chilly for mid-April but nice none the less. So after a nice leisurely breakfast and planning session we set off to accomplish all those things on our to-do list that had been put off for far too long.

First on the list was emptying out our storage shed. Not too glamorous but getting rid of that extra bill was appealing and besides there were cabinets in there that we were going to install in my brand new jewelery making studio that we were going to work on finishing. My son-in-law and daughter met us at the storage place to help. It really went much quicker than I expected and soon we were on our way home to unload. Then head to the Home Improvement store for the last few items that we needed for our remodel.

As we were coming down our street I noticed this car driving really slowly and looking around, and by the time we pulled into the driveway, they were coming back the other way. There was not much going on in the neighborhood and they just looked lost. My daughter and I went inside for a break while the guys unloaded the trucks. As they were finishing up my husband saw the same car parked up the street a couple of houses and two young African American men had gotten out of the car and were looking around. He spoke to them and asked if he could help them? They told him who they were looking for and asked him if they were on the right street. He let them know that the street that they were looking for was on the other side of town and they thanked him and said they would call their friend back for directions, as they got back in the car and drove away.

After taking a break and making a list for the Home Improvement store about half an hour later we left. We were pretty proud of ourselves for staying on track and being so organized. We even remembered to take the list. Another half hour or so went by as we purchased our items and loaded them up in the truck, and headed back home for the real work.

Driving up to the house we noticed that same car parked a couple houses up the other direction from our house, but it didn't really register at the time. We got out of the truck and as we came across our driveway the two men that my husband spoke to earlier in the day were exiting our neighbors house across the street. Our neighbor has a home business so it is not unusual to see people coming and going but this was different. They were not just casually strolling out, they were moving quickly with their arms loaded with things. We had both stopped where we were and were just watching knowing that this didn't look right. Had they broken in to the house? About the time that thought ran through my head my neighbor ran out of his house yelling "call the cops, I am being robbed!" Almost as soon as he said it I saw his hand come up and he had a gun. He started firing, the robbers picked up their pace and were running, I was fumbling for my cell phone and my husband takes off running towards where the robbers are and bullets are flying! I yelled his name and he turned but not to come back he jumped in his car and started it up. Neighbors gun was empty, robbers hit the gas with my husband following! Other neighbors were standing around looking, I guess the gunfire caught their attention, but not doing anything except watching. I finally got my cell phone to connect but it had decided that it was out of the service area and connected with the county emergency number instead of the city. I quickly told the dispatcher that I needed city police and what the emergency was. Neighbor robbed at gunpoint, shots fired, husband following, directions of travel when they turned at the end of the street. I was doing well until he turned at the end of the street and everything that could happen flashed through my mind! The adrenaline hit and my hands were shaking so badly that I could barely hold the phone! The police were there quickly, unfortunately not quickly enough, but their response time was great! The robbers had a much faster car and were able to loose my husband.. I was relieved, him not so much.

Our street was blocked off as officers searched for the bullets trying to determine what if anything had been hit. We all wrote out our statements for the police and answered their questions, then the neighbors started to stroll by to find out if we had more details.... The day was almost gone by the time it was over! We went inside to try to unwind a little when it dawned on us. All the stuff we bought was sitting in the back of the truck! And there were rain clouds coming in quickly! Got it unloaded and put away the stuff from the storage shed just minutes before the rain started!

It drizzled rain the rest of the weekend so we never did get any of our chores done, but we ended up having a wonderful Easter Day with our kids and grand kids.

All in all I guess it was a good weekend. Life does go on, no one was hurt, none of our supplies got ruined and there is always next weekend. And as for the thugs that decided to commit such an act as to enter someones home with a gun and rob them on Good Friday no less, (that has to be really bad Karma!) I do hope that this is visited back on them and that someday they know how it feels to be on the other end. I hope that they are caught and that they do the time in prison that they deserve to do.

I learned something else too. When something looks suspicious, call the police then to check it out. If it is nothing, no harm done. But you might just avoid something huge by calling.