Feeling so bad for my poor mother...

[Kate in Arabia]

Her purse was stolen from her office at work a couple of days ago (she works in a highschool, but they think it was someone who came from outside). She had the usual items you have in your purse that are a pain to replace -- credit cards, insurance cards, money, etc. Plus her keys, which had car keys, house keys and work keys. All those had to have locks replaced, which for the school was a considerable expense as all the locks had to be changed plus new keys made for all faculty and staff.

 

Now she is seriously afraid someone will come to the house and try to get in (since her address was on her driver's license). They've had the locks changed, but she's still living in this low-grade state of panic (she's a natural worrier).

 

Above that, there were some irreplaceable things in her purse that were of little monetary value, but huge emotional value: her cell phone, which had saved voice messages from her brother (only sibling) who died less than two months ago; her notepad, which she carried around with her to write down (and re-read) for example any little funny or endearing thing my kids have said (she'd write it down along with the date) - we're talking years of small memories that she will never be able to recoupe.

 

There's not much I can do to comfort her from afar, especially after the difficult period she went through when my uncle died; I don't know how serious a worry it is that someone would go through the trouble to track down where she lives and try to break in; my brother suggested the phone company may store voicemail messages, that she should ask.

 

It's just been a hard couple of months for her :(

Edited October 24, 2010 by Kate in Arabia

[cindergretta]

Oh my goodness. :( That is horrible. Your poor mom. I'm really sorry. What a lousy situation. I had my purse stolen last year and all I could think about was they just tossed it in a garbage can with no concern whatsoever for the special little keepsakes that were in there. I felt utterly violated and depressed. They also got my driver's license and keys. We changed all of our locks but I still slept "with one eye open" for like a month.

 

What a lot for your poor mom to have to go through. :(

[TheCoffeeChick]

:( :grouphug:

 

That is so sad.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Sometimes a purse is tossed and is recovered afterward by someone who finds it. I hope this is the case for your mom.

[Kate in Arabia]

Thanks for the responses...

 

Sometimes a purse is tossed and is recovered afterward by someone who finds it. I hope this is the case for your mom.

Me too, but I'm not hopeful. She shares an office area with two other people, they both had their wallets stolen but not purses; my mom thinks they (he? she?) took her purse because it was larger and not over-full, so like they used it as a bag to put in the other stuff they took. (It was a nice leather backpack/tote type thing.) Apparently the police found a few credit cards (from the other ladies, none of hers) a considerable distance from the school.

[Harriet Vane]

Could she contact the cell phone company about the stored messages? Are the messages actually in the unit (phone) itself, or might the company have another way to access them? It's worth a call to find out for sure.

[Tammyla]

I feel so sorry for you mom. :grouphug:

[AHASRADA]

I'm so sorry for your mom, Kate. My mom and I both had our purses stolen off our dining room table about 15 years ago (rural area, light was on above the table, back door was unlocked, teens hitting easy targets in the middle of the night for cash).

 

It was very scary to know someone had been in our house, no matter how briefly, but it can be devastating once you realize all the personal and irreplaceable items that were in there.

 

In our case, it was a happy ending. A hiker found all the purses that had been stolen from our area on a trail several towns away. They apparently just took the cash out of them and left everything else. My only real loss was a single French bill, I think 20 Francs, which had been the last bit of cash I had on me when returning from my high school graduation trip to France. I had kept it in my wallet as a souvenir, and these fools thought it was actually worth something and took it :sad:.

 

I do hope they manage to track down her personal items, and that they phone company may be able to retrieve her messages. How terrible about the notebook; I have often wished I had kept such a record, and to know she did and now it's gone, it's just so sad and terrible for a woman who has been through so much lately.

 

:grouphug:

[Old Dominion Heather]

Your poor mom! Do you have any of the cute sayings written down? Maybe you could replace them for her or send her a new photo album full of the grandkids' pictures to put in a new purse?

[mom2denj]

:grouphug: to your mom!This is so sad!!! It is the non-monetary things that are the most hurtful!! I pray that her purse is found by someone soon and I pray for peace for her at home!!!

[EarleneW]

That really does stink. As for her cell phone- the messages should be stored in the system not in the phone itself- at least that is how ours work.

[Kate in Arabia]

Thanks again...

 

You know, I wish I was organized enough to have notes of all the little things my kids have said and done over the years. I think before I actually had kids, like maybe when I was pregnant with my first, I had thought I would be this "super-scrapbooker" and keep books and diaries, etc. Well that never happened, I never even got a baby book -- even for my first. About all I managed was a photo album where I did keep baby photos for each kid, hospital bands from when they were born, etc. but that's about it, so I won't be any help for her in that area unfortunately.

 

I really wasn't sure about the cell phone, the way cell phones are "done" over here is different than in the States. She has a new phone on the way and will be going to the store of whichever provider she uses (I can't remember which one) and hopefully get some help there. If she was here she'd be out of luck, but I'm hopeful she can regain at least that much... she is a very sentimental person.