11:40 - Camten gets off the school bus, home from Kindergarten.
11:50 - I hurry to finish decorating sandles with sewn on stones. I know Jeremy is waiting for us to take the van through DEQ.
11:59 - The cell phone rings. It's Kristi with an update. Camten, Trinity and I climb in the van while talking on the phone. I'm in a hurry, so I wrap up the conversation as I drive. I don't notice anything suspicious, but I'm not looking.
12:00 - Our house is broken into. Two window screens on the back porch are warped and bent as someone tries to enter that way. The back door, made of metal, is dented, recording a footprint, as someone tries to enter that way. The front door gives way splaying door frame where the bolt pushed through the casing. The back door is unlocked and opened to remove our things out of sight from neighbors... some things are collectibles, irreplaceable.
12:14 - Bad Guys use our credit cards in Troutdale. The top of someone's head is caught on camera, but he doesn't look up. They fill their older '90's white Lexus with gas with our credit card, too, and the camera records it, but their license plate is twisted, unclear.
12:30 - The Odyssey passes DEQ and we get some lunch, oblivious.
2:00 - I pull up our driveway and park. Camten and Trinity run to the back door while I check the recycling container - I have seen something new lying on the gravel drive, something that wasn't there before and I'm looking for the "why".
2:01 - Camten and Trinity aren't waiting for me at the back door, they went right inside the house. I stop Cam with a hand on his shoulder, "how did you get in?" I see the front door open with the frame on the floor and immediately yell for Cam and Trin to get back in the minivan. They don't understand why I'm worried. They won't let me check the house to see if it's empty of Bad Guys, they want to run ahead of me, so I grab both their arms and take them to the van myself. We back up the driveway and call Jeremy and then call 911.
12:10 - Jeremy pulls up the drive immediately ahead of two police cruisers. The cops have us wait outside while they check our house. We can hear them calling and see the flashlights blinking in and out of view. I start to wonder what has been taken...
I really don't want to remember that day or the following, hollow week. As a family, we clung together, in each other's literal company until we could sleep, staying up late some nights. Camten wouldn't go down the hallway alone for months. Trinity still questions whether the Bad Guys took something when she can't find a toy. It's important not to let negative thoughts burn trails in the mind and memory, so we did our best to busy ourselves with work and putting things to right again. Our question of "why?" to God is not fully answered, but we don't question that He could restore even the collectibles (that insurance couldn't) to us when He wanted to. We are grateful that no one was injured or threatened and that's that. Only, Dear God, please catch those Bad Guys and make them repay for all they have taken seven-fold!!
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