Dear Reader:

I don’t even know how to tell you this…it is beyond bizarre…but my car was stolen, again, out of my driveway in broad daylight sometime Friday afternoon!

I am seriously “bummed!” Who has that much audacity to come into someone’s driveway and steal their car a second time…after stealing it once before? The police think (obviously) it is the same person (s).

Whoever stole it the first time apparently didn’t want it…leaving it in an abandoned field…so why steal it again? Is this just some freaky ‘cat and mouse’ game for a bored teenager or loner? Or did they never expect it to be found and were angry the police found it and returned it to me.

Every evening I faithfully have checked my car to make double sure it is locked, have left on the two driveway floodlights and porch lights all night since the first robbery 10 days ago..so what does the culprit do….steals it in broad daylight.

While the police start searching again…my job involves a tiring paper trail instead of a criminal trail. I have decided the only way we get out of living in a paper trail world is to pass away…then the next generation gets all the fun of filling out the forms on and for you.

Even though I was tired yesterday (hardly slept any Friday night) I had a lot of nervous energy. I found myself cleaning out book shelves, dusting off photo frames and the polishing the coffee table. While moving items around the table…there was one of my niece Carrie’s birthday gifts to me. Perfect timing. Great God Wink.

I knew immediately what I was going to write on the first slip of paper…Thank you God for never letting go of my hand.

Reverend Sidney Davis (of Zion Olivet Church) said something last Sunday during our church service that has stuck with me. He said it is almost impossible to tell a lie to another person while you are holding hands and staring into their eyes.

How very true! I suddenly pictured God and me sitting across a small table holding both hands together while staring at each other….no lies could penetrate the hand clasp or the look…only the truth. Neither one of us could look away or unlock our hands. We were one in the spirit.

So until tomorrow….God has never left me for one moment since He first took my hand May 29, 2008…the night before my first surgery and He is still holding it now. It will all be “good” in the end…I just must be patient to see how these latest challenges play out

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Even Clemson helped me out by playing so beautifully yesterday with little stress or concern (over the outcome) affecting their loyal fans and supporters. Of course my “Terrific Trio” platter is always out on game day for support too….keep those lights burning tigers!

*...The Rest of the Story (I couldn’t make this up if I tried….Reality really is stranger than fiction.)

It is now 12:30 a.m. (early this morning) and I just got back from retrieving my car. They caught the car thief at an intersection when a wonderful policeman checked the license plate and discovered it was stolen. A chase ensued and the car is slightly damaged but drive-able. The thief is in jail.

I won’t know all the details until the final report but I am beyond thrilled that the “Vue” is back home once again. She is going to need some fixing up…but she’s back and that is what is important. What a weekend…but God was with me all the way…especially since the high beam front car lights are stuck on high beam. The policemen gave me a card to show if I was stopped for not dimming my lights…my grid was torn off the front of the car and my tires feel funny…like maybe they are low on air or something.

I got the call at 11:00 p.m. from a dispatcher that the car had been found and a very nice policeman came and picked me up to take me to the car to drive it back home. The police chase took place off Ashley Phosphate Road back in the Windsor Hill subdivisions….the thief drove the car into the front yard of some apartment buildings where he was literally chased down, tackled, and captured.

I will sleep well tonight knowing that the thief has been caught and I have a car again. Good night and I mean “Good” Night! (or Good morning actually)