Car Burglary Stole Memories More Valuable Than Items Letter Of The Week: From Feb. 24

On Sunday night, Feb. 16, several items were stolen from my sister’s car which was parked in the driveway at my brother’s home in Coeur d’Alene.

Items stolen included my nephew’s CD-tape player and several of his tapes and CDs. One of his favorite tapes cannot be replaced; it was a tape from a youth conference he had attended last summer. The tape had been tossed onto the street, where it was crushed by a car.

Another item taken was a wrapped birthday present with a purple bow that I had given to my 8-year-old niece. The package contained a silver necklace with an amethyst heart. The value of this necklace was only $8. It was an inexpensive present for a little girl.

The true value, though, cannot be measured. You see, my niece was going to wear it to her grandmother’s memorial service on Monday morning.

The day I bought her the present was the last day I saw my mother alive. My mother touched the little necklace, commented how beautiful it was, and said how much her granddaughter would love it.

Stealing is wrong. When you take something from someone else, you take more than a material item. You steal away a memory, something that can never be replaced.

It is our duty as parents to teach our children to respect the property of others. Pamela Noah Coeur d’Alene

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