Friday, April 20, 2007

God's blessings despite my stupidity...

For those of you that have not heard my sob story here it goes:
On April 9th I attended the A's home opener, usually a monumental event in my year, with a big group of friends. We went for Kristin Wetmore's 25th birthday. Ashley, Chris, Alyssa, Lacey, Mark and I all went in my Tahoe. We got there over an hour early but the lot was already sold out because there was a Warrior game that night too. We drove over the freeway to the overflow parking and paid $15. As I got out I did what I always do at baseball games: I take my license, debit card, cash and phone and put them in my pockets, take my ipod out of its holder/charger and put it in my purse and hide my purse in the back of my Tahoe under a jacket/blanket.

Now I know that it is not the smartest thing to leave my purse in the car and normally I just have one of my usual $20 purses so I really don't care...and no one can see it anyway right? Well, the difference this time is that I had (on the previous Friday) bought a brand new COACH purse. I received several gift cards at Christmas, I had babysit several weekends and I had won $100 cash at an easter egg hunt at work so I figured it was finally time to get the purse I really wanted.

Back to my story...so we enjoyed the game, although the A's lost, and were heading back to the car to head home. As we walked up to the car I looked in and saw all of the contents of my glove compartment on my front seat. My mind began racing...why are my sunglasses on the seat, did Chris try to use them, where did my phone charger come from? As these thoughts were going crazy I heard Ashley make a shrieking noise and began to hear the sound of glass. I opened my door and looked into the back seat to see Mark beginning to clear the glass out from the broken window. All at once I knew that everything was gone. I ran to the back of the car and opened my rear door. Of course my purse (and everything in it including $800 worth of gift cards) was gone. I began to process what had happened and ran back to the front. My makeup bag and ipod holder were gone as well.

Everyone was so sweet as we drove home. I tried to hold it together and tell myself that it is just "stuff" and can be replaced. Then I began to think of all of the things that were in my purse that were irreplaceable...my pictures of Makenna and Katelyn when they were babies, my favorite pair of tweezers that I have had for ten years, a bracelet from the Navajo reservation...things that mean so much to me. That was when I started to cry.

So now, a week and a half later, most of it has all worked out. My car window is fixed, I turned in my $2500 claim to my homeowners insurance for all of my personal property, I replaced my makeup, my amazing Mom replaced my new HOBO wallet that had gotten stolen.

Then yesterday afternoon I receive a call from Art, a rough sounding but sweet old man. He tells me that he has found my backpack on the entrance to the freeway in San Leandro (a few miles from the Oakland Coliseum) and I can come and pick it up at his apartment. Always trying to be an intelligent girl I decide it is not the smartest thing to go to his apartment. I have him drop it off at a nearby car dealership where a friend of mine works. My friend tells me that it was a smart move not going to his apartment, he was a very "chester the molester" looking man. Ashley and I went to pick it up from the dealership last night.

I don't care what kind of man that Art was because he is a saint in my eyes! In the backpack, which was not mine by the way, is my wallet with all of my regular cards (insurance , safeway, etc...), my gift cards (even my free movie tickets), my makeup bag with no makeup but full of receipts, appointment books and a checkbook belonging to someone else, all of my lip glosses (gross, I sadly threw them all away)!! I am still kind of in shock.

It is amazing to me that the person who stole my purse did not realize the jackpot of all of my gift cards. I feel so blessed through this whole situation. I told myself, despite various advice from friends, that I was going to be totally honest with the insurance company in regards to what got stolen. Now I feel like the Lord is rewarding me for my honesty. When you are a kid you hear all the time that "honesty is the best policy" and now I see how true that statement really is!!

4 comments:

Zakaryans said...

That is awesome Jen!! I love that story. I am so glad you got all those GCs back. And was is the HOBO wallet that was in there or something else? I love you. -KZ

Anonymous said...

i think the real beauty here is the fact that your purse was found in the beautifully glorious place known as SAN LEANDRO!!!! I knew it was good for something!!!!

Davis.

lauren said...

thats crazy that you got it back. so great!

everydayVALENTINE said...

so awesome jen! I'm so glad it worked out. by the way I LOVEEEEEE your new blog and I cannot wait for you to officially be aunt fifi...love you.