Bange Bloggers

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful day. It's as dark as evening here and we're having a thunderstorm, but at least its not chilly.

I'm still a bit shaken up about this, but need to share it with you all so you are more careful.

On Good Friday, the girls & I had gone shopping at a Costco and I had put them in the truck, started it and turned on the air conditioner while I loaded our items in the back. I put my purse in, and then went to return the cart to the corral. I always try to park right next to one, but the store was very crowded today and so I had to park about 4 cards down & across.

When I turned back around to walk back the truck I saw a person closing the door of my truck. I ran, yelled STOP and ran through the cars (he was parked on the other aisle) and got within 6 feet of his bumper before he pulled away. No license plates of course. Running to the truck I found the girls hysterical. They knew exactly what had happened and were distraught that my purse had been taken.

Because I had yelled several other people saw it, but they couldn’t really help beyond the make/model of car & color. Amazingly the girls can describe very well what he looked like and what he was wearing. Black curly hair, black shirt and blue pants.

The manager and staff at Costco were EXCEPTIONAL. They called the police, let me use their personal cells to call Vince so he could cancel/close our accounts, brought the girls each a stuffed animal. The manager held Iva and stayed with us for the duration – about 90 minutes because the police were less than stellar – once they got there they spent less than 5 minutes with me and didn’t even ask my name. I don’t think a stolen purse rates very high for them. In the big scheme of things happening in Houston, I know it’s not big, and it’s just STUFF.

So just a cautionary tale to be careful, and always lock your car doors.

While this is not the way I would have preferred for the girls to learn how stealing makes people feel - it got the message across very clearly. It’s mean and it makes other people sad. I know they are more upset than I am – of course I’m just MAD.

As you might imagine, I didn’t sleep well the first night and couldn’t stop replaying it all in my head and playing various “what if” scenarios. We are truly thankful for our safety & well being.

The girls made mention of it just a few times yesterday – when we got in the car or when they think of me not having a purse. We’re trying to keep it very low key and remind them that mommy can get all new things. They always say “That man took one of OUR purses” – my wallet & phone are just as much theirs as mine in their minds I guess.

I took the girls went to our community easter egg hunt yesterday and found myself a bit jumpy in situations that would not have even phased me before. I have no desire to go shopping by myself.

Vince was able to close our single credit card and bank account within a ½ hr. The thief did use the CC at one gas station which worked and tried at a 2nd which failed. My phone was not used at all before I suspended it.

So, please be careful and go through your purse/wallet and get rid of anything that has any personal info on it – so SSN, no passwords, no PINS. Also make a list of all your CC info and keep it in a safe place at home and have your husband keep a copy at work too. The only phone # I knew by heart was Vince's. I know I’m going to memorize a few more now.

Love You & Miss You,

Sarah