LAST catch-up post, episode 5: drama in the hood

~ it started out like any other relaxing Saturday evening ~

I know all of you on Facebook heard (and commented on!) this story a few weeks ago. But it was kind of a big deal, so I wanted to mention it. And my Mouse... well, he was the man of the hour!


Little did we know that our house was being cased by a potential intruder all day. Some neighbors were taking all the wood from our cut down tree - we even noticed and commented on the guy who kept walking by and looked out of place - and it was a cool afternoon of my kids having friends over, coming and going as usual. Windows and doors wide open as usual. Sheesh, I don't even have a key to my own house! Lock the door? Rarely. 


But in the 23 years we've lived here, things have changed a lot. 


That evening - only around 8:00pm - it would have been simple for anyone outside to see what our family was up to. Bright lights on in the kitchen as I made a salad. Bright lights on in the front room as all the kids were occupied watching a movie. John in his studio with the door closed, unseen. Anyone who had jumped our wall and was hiding in the shadows of our back yard could tell my bedroom was dark except for a small light, and my sliding door was open. Perfect.


I don't know how he heard it, but the Mouse heard my bedroom screen door open. He wasn't sure what noise it was - maybe Davy's kitty? - but something told him to investigate. None of us knew any of this, he just walked quietly down the hall to check. Suddenly I heard the Mouse yell in the voice of a lion - a voice so loud I had never heard the likes of:

"GET OUT!!! GET OUT!!!"

The intruder had just stepped into my bedroom when Mouse looked down my hall into my room, and spotted him. The intruder did indeed GET OUT and ran! Mouse's friends thought he was just goofing around. John thought it was probably Davy and his friends that had come home. I knew as a mom immediately that something was wrong, but it was over before I even got to Mouse. Poor Mouse was shaking and trying not to puke. But he was able to give a partial description to the police. And more than that, he totally saved us from being robbed! HE WAS SO AMAZING!


So suddenly the air was filled with helicopters, and our street filled with police cars, and neighbors came pouring out of their houses to see what had happened. Our new next door neighbors had literally moved in the day before and we hadn't even met them yet - I still feel awful about scaring the living daylight out of them! But the Mouse........ HE WAS SO BRAVE!!! HE SAVED THE DAY!!! MOUSE, YOU ARE TOTALLY OUR HERO!!!


I don't know if the intruder was ever caught. There has been more crime in the last year - in just our neighborhood alone - than in the entire 23 years we've lived here. Things are not the same. 


So now we have bars and locks on our windows and sliders, locked gate, locked front door. I'll have to get a house key made. It makes me really sad. But that's how it has to be. But I'll never forget how courageous my Mouse was - Matthew, I am so proud of you and so grateful :)