Burgled

Flying from Salt Lake City to Luxembourg is a feat. 

We begin days before. We rest. We hydrate. We pack. We bring two backpacks full of spare clothes, snacks, headphones, iPads, toys, games, chapstick, gum, diapers and wipes. We know we won't sleep for 24 hours and our children will sleep for three or four hours, if we're lucky, or if we sacrifice a seat for them so they can sprawl out comfortably. 

So by the time we land in Paris, get our circus (family) off of the plane, onto a bus, through customs, onto another bus, hang out in a terminal for an hour and then walk to a gate, and climb aboard another airplane, it's about all we (I) can do to not sob for the 45-minute flight from Paris to Luxembourg. 

When we landed in Luxembourg, I reminded Ben we needed to text Star. She lives only a few minutes from the airport and we knew she could make the quick drive over as we collected baggage. 

Ben turned on my phone. Then he handed it to me with a text message from Star open: Call me as soon as you get this. 

No big deal.  What could possibly be worse than traveling for the past 16 hours with three toddlers? I called her.

Your car is gone and someone has been through your house, Star said. 

I still think the flight was worse. 

As Star gave me the news, I could hear Ben talking to Russ (Star's husband) on his phone. Originally, the plan was for Star to pick Russ up from work during his lunch hour, go to our place, pick up our car and drive both their and our car to pick us up at the airport (we would need two cars to accommodate ourselves and our luggage). 

When they went to our home, the car was gone and the house was ransacked. 

Heaven help us. 

When you haven't slept in 24 hours and every second of your time is spent making sure your children are happy or the people around you are happy, all you want to do is die/sleep. So the news of the grand theft auto and robbery stung but it felt far away, like I could deal with it another day. 

Knowing we would be sleep deprived, hungry, in need of police assistance and more transportation home from the airport, Star arranged for Megan Mullins (another friend) to come to the airport as well. I put my backpack on. I carried both Aksel and Ingrid. Otto walked beside me. I knew Ben could handle the luggage and I could get three kids out of the airport and into fresh air. Megan opened up her trunk and revealed muffins and hugs and three children to keep my three children entertained. I ate a muffin and felt grateful Star was there to help me keep an eye on my children running around a parking lot. 

Then Russ texted Star: still no sign of Ben. 

Russ was waiting outside the security gates to help Ben with luggage once Ben made it through baggage claim. 

I called Ben. No answer. What was happening? I don't know. I ate another muffin. 

Then Russ and Ben appeared curbside with only two car seats and one small duffle bag, half of our checked items. Three bins didn't make it onto the airplane from Paris to Luxembourg. 
Lost baggage? Not a problem. Get in line behind sleep deprivation, no car, and no valuables.  

We split up. Ben put the two boxed car seats and duffle bag in Megan's trunk and I sat in Russ and Star's back seat with Otto and Aksel sleepily beside me and Ingrid sleepily in my arms. 

Our friends drove us home. 

Once home, we spent a few minutes trying to remember which number called the police and which number called the ambulance. We were sure 112 was for police. 

Ben called 112. Nope. Ambulance. Ben called 113. The police would be arriving in minutes. 
I've said it before, and I'll say it 1oo times more. I'm so grateful Ben speaks French. 

I tucked Ingrid into her bed and tried to convince Otto and Aksel to sleep (so they wouldn't muck-up police work), and then I realized something terrible -- we had accidentally left Otto's monkey on the airplane in Paris. This was crushing. 

I consoled Otto and myself with some chocolate. Then the police arrived and Star and I talked about the Jason Bourne series. Then we did our best to keep Otto and Aksel out of the way of the four police officers.

The Luxembourgish police force took DNA samples, smoked cigarettes, finger printed doors, items, and told Ben our BMW was long gone through Poland to be sold in Eastern Europe or North Africa. They asked Ben questions like how long we were gone, who touched what, and what items were missing. 

What items were missing? I don't know. I'd been home for like 10 minutes and most of that time was wrestling children on a front stoop. 

After keeping me company for nearly two hours, I reluctantly released Russ and Star back to their own lives. Megan stopped by a few minutes later with more muffins and a warm dinner. We love our friends in Luxembourg.

When everyone had left, I looked at our pillaged house, and felt a little sad. Sad because I had really worked my butt off to leave the house spotless and clean and sad it was only 5 pm and I knew it was too early to go to bed. But, Star had filled our kitchen with yogurt and apples and bread and eggs and Megan had brought by food that would last us for three days. 

We watched two episodes of Curious George, ate our friends' food, and sang our children to sleep. As we climbed into our own bed, Ben said, Things don't matter. The only thing that matters are the three sleeping children in their rooms. 

Six hours later (2 am), we were all awake and facing the reality of jet lag and putting our lives back together. One movie, five bowls of cereal, and lots of lullabies later, we were back asleep until much later in the morning (11 am). I had slept through my 9 am alarm and kicked myself. We needed to get up earlier in order to adjust back to Luxembourg time. 

We ate more cereal and Tracey Oliver showed up with a car. Ben drove her home and stopped by a grocery on the way home. When Ben returned, we all ran to the front door to greet him. Otto hugged his leg. We (the kids and I) were all feeling a little jittery. 

Then Ben called our landlord. Fernand said he was going to send someone over within an hour to have all of the locks replaced and we needed €1000 in cash. Awesome. 

Ben drove to an ATM and I took Otto, Aksel and Ingrid to a park. Nine hundred and eighty two euros later, Ben joined us at the park and we played in the giant sand pit for nearly an hour longer. We walked home, put the kids in the tub and congratulated ourselves for making it to 7 pm. Then we started putting the house back together and making a list of stolen items to send to the police. 

We know jet lag doesn't last forever. We know we'll get a new car. We know we'll replace our things. In the meantime, we know we have really good friends in Luxembourg -- friends who have made all the difference in a world deprived of sleep, security and sanity. 

Ben loves that burgled is a legitimate word in the UK, and I do too; because that is exactly what happened to our car and our home in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. What an experience this place has been and will continue to be.