Stolen!
There is nothing that steals your feeling of security and safety like being the victim of a robbery. Of course there are many other horrible things that cause horrible damage but theft is one of those crimes that we have all dealt with or will deal with on one level or another. And if you are in the tiny minority of folks who haven’t been stolen from then “Hurray!” I wish I could say that.
Our annual trip to Oklahoma for the Gold Rush Motorcycle Race was over all a wonderful one, just like every other year but this one was dotted with some absolute crap. As you may have read in my last post, my son Ewan was hurt and scared the living crap out of us after my race. If you haven’t read that, you can click HERE and go to it. After recovering from that trauma we moved on and had some more great racing and made some more amazing memories. We left the tiny town of Hallett where the race is and headed to OKC to spend a couple nights with my parents and pick up some furniture that they were getting rid of.
My folk’s house was all torn apart while being remodeled so they got us a hotel room in a really nice place just a couple blocks from their house. Now you have to understand, my parents live in a very old and VERY nice neighborhood and the Hotel is in that neighborhood too. I have mentioned before, I am not a rags to riches story. If anything I am riches to rags in some ways. Anyway, we checked into our hotel on Sunday night, parked in the private lot out back and went to sleep without a single thought about the contents of my van (3 dirt bikes to be exact). The next morning we got up and headed to my parents house to hang out and pick up the furniture. We rented a Uhaul trailer, loaded the furniture and then headed to the science museum with the kids.
After an outstanding day with my mom we sat down for dinner with my parents and began to really wrap the trip up. We knew we would need to get up early the next morning to make the trip back to Montrose so we cut the night a little short and headed back to the hotel. When we pulled into the private lot we felt a little out of place in our van with a trailer. Everything else in the lot was nicer and MUCH smaller. I tucked the van in to a spot directly under a light and locked it up. As if they were aware of something or some cosmic foreshadowing was being played out my kids asked if everything was safe. “Totally boys, this place is nice and we are in a super nice neighborhood. Everything is just fine.” Man was I wrong!
4:30am came early the next morning but we all rallied and got ready. We were headed toward the van to make our big push home when I heard my wife exclaim “No… No…” What the F$%K (sorry for the language but thats real). The back window was busted, back doors open and one of our bikes was gone! My son Ewan’s KX65 was no where to be found! I was LIVID! Its amazing how many thoughts and race through this tiny brain of mine. I guess they don’t have very far to go?? I was mad, then sad for Ewan, then worried about the rest of our stuff, then I wanted to kill the thief, then worried about getting home! Ugh, how could someone steal a kids bike!
All motorcycles are special to their owners but this one was on another level. We had purchased it blown up and my boys and I had rebuilt it and made it our own. I wanted to strangle the pile of crap that took it. After calling the police, talking to the hotel management and letting my folks know what happened we packed up and headed west. Not much we could do but move on and hope for someone to find it. That is when my 8 year old spoke up with words that we all needed to hear. In the midst of anger and disparaging words, from the back seat Ewan says in his beautiful tiny voice “At least we are all ok!” Tears began to well up in my eyes I looked at Ruth and we sighed “Yeah, at least we are all ok.” I was so caught up in being mad at someone who I didn’t know, who’s story I had never heard, who’s struggles I probably can’t imagine that I forgot that my family was just fine. We would be ok, we can get another bike, we have good jobs, we have a wonderful home. We have a love between us that can NEVER be taken away and THAT is is worth infinitely more than some silly machine made of plastic and metal. I am not saying that people should get away with theft or any other crime but I am saying that I don’t need to waste my precious energy on being mad about it.
I wish I could say that right then and there I forgave the person who stole the bike but unfortunately I am still on that journey God. Anger and revenge are things that I struggle with and I believe that God has put my little Ewan in my life to help me overcome those struggles.
Comment your stories below about things being stolen, troubles you've had or any thoughts on this post! I want to engage with you all!
