Thursday afternoon, I went to LA Fitness, like I frequently do, on my lunch break. When I came out of the gym about an hour later, I was shocked to see my front passenger side window shattered and my purse gone. Seriously! I was parked in the front row within eye sight of the entrance, and it was the middle of the freaking day!!! I mean, who does that?
After I called Luke and calmed down a bit, I went back into the club to tell the manager. He was already aware of the break in because somebody had told him, but apparently, no one saw it happen. I told him it wasn't that big of a deal (though it was a huge hassle) because I had my phone with me and could just cancel my cards, and he gave me the non-emergency number to report it to the police.
While I was on the phone with the lady at the police department, it hit me. Both of my wedding rings were in my purse. I literally lost it on the phone with the lady and could barely finish giving her my information. I immediately called Luke and he, of couse, was not mad at me, but so sad as well. After waiting and talking to the police and crying my eyes out, it was late, and I was too upset and tear stained to go back to work. I went to get Luke a little early, and we found a place with Wifi where we looked up numbers for pawn shops in the area (just in case). While calling around to the pawn shops, we found out that there's something called the National Pawn Shop registry. Basically, pawn shops are supposed to report merchandise they buy to this system, and then police departments are able to search it for stolen items. So we got the name of the lady in charge of the Pawn Shop detail at the Irving Police Department and made sure that she had the best possible description of my rings. Unfortunately, I would say there's slim to no chance of the rings being recovered, especially as time passes.
To have something stolen from you is such a devastating feeling, and really, there is absolutely nothing I can do to make it better. I've walked through a pawn shop or two with no luck. (My ring would have stuck out like a sore thumb from what I saw.) We've called and faxed descriptions of the rings to the local Gold & Silver exchange buyers just in case. And now we just wait. And hope for the best. And hope that as time goes by, the sadness and thoughts of "what if" go away.
I've gone over and over that day in my head, and if I'd done one of a billion things differently, this might not have happened.
First, it's not a normal thing for me to put my rings in my purse. I have a rash on my finger, though, and the rings have been irritating it. The day before this happened, I left my rings at home because I'd been messing with them too much and was afraid I would accidentally lose them. This morning, for some reason, I decided to wear them again. By the time I got to work, they were already bothering me, so I put them in my purse so that I wouldn't accidentally leave them on my desk at work overnight. What if I hadn't done that? What if I'd left them at home? What if my car had been broken into the day before when I also went to the gym at lunch?
I was busy working that morning and didn't go to lunch until around 1. What if I'd gone just a little bit earlier?
When I left for lunch, I was going back and forth between going to the gym or going to browse around Target. I'd already worked out with Luke that morning, and if I went to the gym, I was only going to walk just so I could get a little break from sitting at my desk. If I went to Target, though, I'd be tempted to buy things I didn't need, and I didn't need to spend the money. The gym won. What if I'd just gone to Target?
All week, I'd still been carrying the small, tan cross-body purse that I took on our trip to Nashville. Right before I left the house that morning, I decided to switch purses back to my huge, gray purse. It's seriously large - probably more of a tote than a purse. What if I hadn't done that? The tan of the first purse would have blended in with the tan of my seats, and the small size would have made it less visible.
What if I had put my purse in the trunk? What if I had remembered that my rings were in my purse and put them back on before going into the gym? What if I had stuck my wallet into my gym bag? What if I had done something, anything, differently?
Luke has been so sweet and perfect and understanding through all of this. He says you can't do what if's because what if? What if I'd gone to Target and gotten into a horrible wreck on the way? What if I'd left the gym as soon as I was finished instead of being delayed by the break in drama? You never know.
And maybe some good will come out of this. My sweet six year old niece, Shelby, overheard my mom talking about what happened after I called her. She asked Poppy, my dad, why God would make somebody that would do that. He told her that God gives us the ability to choose, and sometimes people make the wrong decisions. So maybe she learned a big life lesson and will always choose to make the right decisions so that other people don't get hurt or sad.
And maybe the thug that stole my rings has an impatient girlfriend that's really been putting on the pressure and has been begging him to propose. Maybe this was the push he needed to finally pop the question, and they can start a beautiful life together. (Just Kidding. I do NOT hope that at ALL!)
Although I loved my rings and what they symbolized and am still very sad about what has happened, I'm so glad that nothing worse happened. We don't have the rings, but we still have each other. And maybe someday in a very long time, I'll get to upgrade. (Just kidding again. Mine were PERFECT.)
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