so before the details get fuzzy i want to blog our little COPS episode that happened yesterday and this morning. it was about 4:30 on monday afternoon, i was play wrestling with Caden and Raylee back on my bed. Brady comes running back, "there's a guy knocking on the door, he's in a gray shirt". ok. so i get up, thinking its a salesman etc. i see nothing, decide to lock the door (which is pretty unusual) but jared texted that he was working late. i start dinner, picking up toys and as i'm waliking around i hear someone push on the door handle and try to come in. but it was locked. i ran to look thru the curtains and see a 50ish yr old in a gray shirt walking away. hmm, must be that pesky salesman, with his beer belly and shaved head. kinda weird. i keep cleaning and cooking then the sound of the door handle being pushed happens again. my heartrate picked up quite a bit. ok, there's a weirdo trying to come in. i watched him walk away again. this is freaky. i call randy who was in his room, no answer. i knock on his door, he must be asleep. ok. i'm all alone, i see the steak knives, and know i have a plan. i quickly shove the kids in their rooms and get on the phone. i called julie, (her husband is salinas pd) he was gone and off duty. i called ryan (pacific grove pd) no answer. getting ready to call 911 and some neighbors are gathered outside on my sidewalk. i go talk to them. a little earlier this guy actually walked into my neighbors house and said, "i'm just looking around, maybe i'll go for a bike ride, i'm just looking around". the big buff husband told him to get out. the weirdo walked down to my house and sat on my front yard. his boots and hat were on my little park bench outside against the house. they shewed him away and called the police but salinas dispatch told them they were too busy. randy poped out of his room i tell him whats going on and he grabs his baton and starts patroling the house.
no sign of the guy for a little bit, everyone goes into their houses. i moved my kids back to my bedroom, put a show on for em, told em everything was fine and locked em in their bombshelter. i had a feeling to peek thru my curtains, and now i see the guy but he's shirtless at this point and walking toward my house. ryan had called back at that point and i yell to randy, "HE'S BACK, SHIRTLESS, CROSSING THE STREET, HE'S HERE RANDY!!!!" other neighbors were spectacting as calm collected randy talks to him, questions him and tells him to put on his boots and hat, go home, take his meds, and stop freaking people out.
in the meantime i get hold of jared, he's pretty much freakin out--away, helpless but making plans for our shotgun purchase. and he had me call Turtle and Dani (pg&e friend who lives 12 doors down on our street) and make sure they are ok. i had to leave a message, but turtle (he has a name, Marcus) called me back and asked if jared was home and if he should come down. so he comes marching down with his huge killer (she is a sweetie) dog and a baseball bat. randy had just sent the weirdo on his way, so i sent turtle to go escort him home. i hear that 2 cops are on their way. and i see one turn into the side street where he went. turtle came back and reported that the cops were talking to him and checked to make sure we were ok.
dont think its over.... its not! 2:15 a.m. we are woken up by a knock and a doorbell. jared hops up and i hear him say, "yes sir, yes, my wife, yesterday, yes, ok. ok. yes. thank you sir." he comes and reports to me that weirdo just tried to go in our neighbors house again, just then. so they have him in custody. i try to fall back asleep, eventually i did until Kendra busts in our room at 5:30 and says, "daddy i just puked (she's been having one of her migraines for a few days now) and i heard something so i looked out the window and the policemen were telling the guy to put his hands up and then they handcuffed him and pushed him in the car. i pop outta bed, and take a final picture hoping this is the end of our lovely encounter with wacked out mister gray shirt.
ooo my doorbell just rang and my heart skipped a beat. i think it's gonna take a while to come down from this. i'm just extremely grateful for my kids being door-safety smart, for randy living with us, for good neighbors, men in my life and their weapons, and for my prompting to lock the door after that initial knock.
dan and roxi were heading up for their family vacation, so i hopped in and after driving thru the nite we rested for a while then dan and i headed up to the viewing. aunt tammy made a wonderful slide show of her life and reuniting and hugging that fife clan was great.
the funeral was beautiful--the family's musical number was incredible, my knees weakened when my mom so powerfully played the intro. i was impressed that we all didnt fall apart as we sang. but watching our dear cute little grandpa quietly weep and slowly wipe his eyes during the program was the hardest part for most of us.
these are the Fife kids with their dad. its quite the crew. my uncles are talented, hilarious characters always full of suprises. my aunts are super loving, caring and involved. we laughed, we cried, we ate, we hugged but most importantly we were just there together to remember a wonderful, inspiring woman.
one of the more touching moments to me was my brothers and dad being pall bearers. we are all very grateful that grandma is not suffering anymore but it's still unreal to imagine her being gone from us. we know her spirit lives on and that she is filled with joy, but it was hard to see her body put in the ground. my dad dedicated the grave and i was reminded of the great assurance that the blessings of the priesthood give us. it was comforting.
afterwards the cute little relief society provided a nice lunch for the family. we had a lovely time to visit and just enjoy seeing eachother. this is my cousin melanie who we wanted an updated picture together since the last one we took was 32 years ago. so fun to catch up.
the dividing of grandmas jewelery turned out to be quite humorous. my mom pulled out her jewelery she didnt want and we went shopping and had some fun with the dated accessories.
we ended our trip with dan taking us geo-cacheing. its like a real life treasure hunt where you use your GPS to get clues and find hidden stuff. its pretty fun. we found this one in the woods by the golf course in my parents' neighborhood. all in all we had made and recalled great memories: bumping into my mom at the viewing and her not recognizing me, reading moms past yearly newsletters, spending quality time with andrew and megan, singing a beautiful number at the funeral with my extremely talented Fife side of the family, looking at pictures, and feeling so blessed to have had grandma in our lives. we love you grandma.
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