...to learn a lesson

...the hard way.

Have you ever been scared?  Like so scared you freeze for a moment as your brain tries to figure out how to tell your body how to react.  For a split second...you think everything is OK.  Then you realize something is very wrong.

Then as a momma...you transform into a bear; into survival model.

I was sitting by the fire finishing up some work...later than my new normal (about 11:30).  And my back door opened.  Then closed.  Quietly.

Someone was in my home.

I thought it was Amy.  Wanted to believe it was Amy.  But Amy would have knocked.

A stranger.

By god's grace...she walked right out into the next door she saw.  Into my garage.

And there she was stuck.  Locked in my garage.  Very drunk.  Probably high on something.  Sobbing, pleading with me to let her in, crying, yelling at me to 'let her out'.

She wasn't in a f&^%ing prison, all she had to do was push the garage door button.  Duh.

As I sit here writing this I see what all of my lessons are:

• First, when I am inside at night I need to keep the doors locked.
• Second, I need to do my best to know where my phone is.
• Third, I need to keep it charged.
• Finally, I need to get the phone numbers from the family next door and across the street.

Nope.  Nope.  And Nope.

If my doors had been locked in the first place she wouldn't have gotten in.

The next two things added 15 minutes to me getting the help here to my house that I needed.

After I realized she (an no one else) was coming into my house I moved into action mode.  First, locate my phone.  Which was still upstairs in the little girls room.  Of course the phone died while Abbey was talking on it so I had to located my charger, get the phone to turn on (this take F-O-R-E-V-E-R when you are in a hurry) and told Amy that I needed Donny to come.  Right away.  That some stranger was locked in my garage.

Donny came very quickly.  To my rescue again.  Seeing him pull into my driveway gave me such a relief.  He opened the door to the garage with my truck opener and the three of us just stared at each other for  a few minutes.  She, not wanting to get into trouble.  Us, not knowing what to do with her.

She was young.  25.  Wearing flip flops and a t-shirt.  It is 30 degrees.

I drove her home.  About three miles from here.  A long way in a t-shirt and flip flops on a night like tonight.

When I was driving back home I felt the kind of relief that you feel when you have just been so consumed, so worried about something, and finally so relieved.  I just wanted to sit and have a good cry.

I learned a lot about her in the time she was yelling at me through the garage door and on the short drive to her home.  I hope she is going to be okay.  I hope that her four children are going to be okay.  I learned several good lessons from her tonight.  And I am thankful that it was her and not and he.

I am fine.  Shaken.  Pretty wired..I won't be asleep for a while.  And the kids are fine too.

We'll be much safer tomorrow than we were today.