Widows? Burglars? Don't Let This Happen to You!

She arrived at our GriefShare group ahead of everyone else when I was facilitating a group in Ohio. "I didn't have a very good week," she said. "I was robbed."

"What?!!" Tom and I both gasped.

"Monday afternoon. I came home and the house was a wreck. They ripped open Christmas packages, went through my bedroom drawers. Stole all my papers and jewelry. They took my engagement ring . . . The police say all my jewelry is melted down by now."

She was heartbroken and so were we.

"Someone really small went in through a basement window and let the others in. But something scared them away. They ran off before they were done."

"They'd been watching my house for months. I'd wondered if other people got as many telemarketers and hang-up phone calls as I've had recently. They knew exactly when I'd be gone! I go to my club every Monday afternoon and they knew it."

This widow's husband had died the previous spring. Thieves do track the obituaries. They can easily find out where you live.

Here are a few things you can do to start protecting yourself.

Look into methods of upgrading your security: A security system probably comes to mind first, but there are other options as well.

• Have glass block windows installed on ground level windows.
• Get a dog.
• Form a neighborhood watch group.

Educate yourself:

• Contact your local police department and find out what they suggest in your neighborhood.
• Attend self-defense classes.
• Google "theft prevention."

Guard your privacy:

• Get an unlisted phone number.
• Do not list your location or full name on your Internet or social network information.
• When those "telemarketers" call asking for your husband, don't tell them he's passed away. Just say, "He can't come to the phone right now."
• If you blog or use Facebook, etc., do not mention when you'll be going out of town or when you'll be away from home. Talk about it when you get back, not beforehand! Promise? Good! NOW GO CHANGE YOUR PERSONAL INFO! (I yell because I care!)

What are some other crime prevention tips you know of? Let's help each other out by sharing the ones you've heard. I don't want anyone else to get robbed!
♥ ferree