My Heart Was Literally Coming Out Of My Chest

I was home today with my two girls and my nephew Zachary. It was a typical day until I heard pounding on the front door that lasted for about 4 minutes. I kept thinking..."Who in the world does that?" I started to get nervous. What is up with this person? This is all a little strange. Could it be that someone is actually trying to break in? During broad daylight?

Then a little voice tells me to hurry and lock the basement door (we have two doors. The actual door to the basement and then one more once you get inside, but it's just a typical bedroom door and we usually just keep that one locked).

So I literally ran and dead-bolted the basement door. Then close and lock the next one. My mind is running a million miles an hour thinking all sorts of things.....
-"Is this really happening?!"
-"Is this person going to hurt me?!"
-"Do they have a gun or a knife?"
- "I've got to protect my children!"
-"I want to CRY!" (seriously, I was on the verge of tears the whole time. Fear does that to a person I guess)
-"If this person does get in the house, I will totally take 'em down!" ( Easier said than done)
-"What if they do get in, what then? What will I do?" (having never been in a situation like this before, I've never thought of what I would do.)

So, Not even 20 seconds after I listened to that little voice and dead-bolted that door I hear someone fiddling with the basement door, trying to get in.
Oh my gosh! AAAHHHH!!!!!
Someone really IS trying to break into the house! I'm all alone with three children! (This just brought on even more fear!)They try to get in for about three minutes.
(That really freaked me out that there were only a few seconds in between the time I locked the door and when this guy tried to get in. I kept saying to myself, "What if I hadn't gotten to the door so quickly to lock it? That guy would have for sure gotten in my house and who knows what would've happened!")

I close all the blinds. The cops were called, Nate was called and my friend was called (she owns this house and lives above us and that is why I didn't answer the front door when this guy was pounding on it.)

I take my screaming children (they were fighting with each other) and put them in the back bedroom. My heart is pounding this whole time and I am feeling very violated and very vulnerable.

My friend comes home, pulls in the drive-way and hears someone in the shed in the backyard. She takes her kids and hurries in the house through the front entrance. We wait for the cops. I wait for Nate to come home.

I didn't really see the guy because I had closed the blinds and was trying to tend to my children and trying to keep myself from freaking out. I just saw his shoes at a glance when he was in the front yard knocking on the door. My friend however saw a guy through her window with a striped hat on the sidewalk that quickly left right before the cops came. (but we don't even know if this was the guy, it could've been.)

The cops come (three or four of them with their cars parked right in front of the house. Talk about the bomb squad being here). They search the backyard. Whoever was trying to break in the house had completely torn one of the shed doors off the hinges. But they didn't find anyone back there. This person had gotten away. But our neighbors are on the look out now.

It was quite an emotional afternoon for us at our house. My palms have never been that saturated with sweat. My heart has never pounded that much. I have never been so afraid in my life.

I hate that this world isn't always safe and we sometimes have to live in fear.
I am grateful nothing happened to us and that this jerk couldn't get in the house. It's too bad he wasn't caught, because odds are, he will try to get some other innocent person's house.

Nothing like a good 'ol burglary to bring all of your fears to the surface. I hate that kind of fear that comes when you are in danger and hope to never have to feel it again!

Thank you dutiful policemen who responded so quickly and searched the neighborhood.
Thank you Nate for dropping everything at work to come home to a very scared wife when I told you someone was breaking in the house at that very moment.
Thank you friend (you know who you are) for being here with me and for talking about this incident with me and helping to calm my nerves; you made me feel so much better.


***On a much lighter note, I just had to add this. When the cops pulled up, Nate pulled up the same time. They stopped him in the driveway and told him to not go anywhere. The cops had been told that the suspect had on a striped hat, but one of the cops couldn't remember if it was a striped hat or shirt. And guess what? Nate had a striped shirt on, so they thought Nate might have been the burgler! And here I was watching this from inside the house wanting to yell out the window that that was my husband. But I thought I better let the cops do their job. But it all got cleared up and he was no longer a suspect (thank goodness because it would be a drag to have to bail my hubby out of jail!)