Damn you, Friday the 13th

Someone broke into the house next door this afternoon.  Literally kicked in the back door.  No one was home, thank god.  And neither were Noah and I otherwise this mama would have been all over 9-1-1.  All I can think about is what if my neighbor and her toddler son were home?  This is usually his naptime so she would have been home maybe getting some stuff done around the house or maybe working out or maybe just taking the downtime to catch up on the DVR.  My hands are shaking as I write this because it could have easily been us.  

I was unloading the groceries from my car when the police arrived.  And since I'm nosy I hung around the front to see what was up.  Apparently the house alarm was going off so the alarm company alerted the police and they asked me if I had seen anyone or heard anything.  Oh how I wish I had so I could help them, but of course we weren't home.  My neighbor A and her son are out of town, but her husband J came tearing up the street, leaving his car parked in the middle of the street.  I don't know if anything was taken.  And all I can think about is what if?  I've heard of this happening, these middle of the day break-ins.  With people at work, the opportunity and ease for theft is so high.  But A doesn't work.  She's home with their son all day.  It hurts me to think of what could have happened had she been home...

I've had my wallet stolen and my credit cards rung up by someone else.  I know what it feels like to be a victim of theft.  But I have never known what it is like having an intruder in MY home.  MY safe place.  It must feel like rape's little cousin.  Someone else was inside your home, uninvited, and TOUCHING and TAKING your things.  No.  Just no.  What if they had tried our house first?  What if WE had been home?  I don't feel safe right now.  I know this can happen anywhere, it's not just a "city" thing.  But still.  I'll be the one with the butcher knife under my pillow tonight.