Did you know that P.S. is an abbreviation for “post scriptum”? It’s Latin for “written after.” And that’s why you never write P.S.S. if you have more than one thing to add, because you want to say “post, post scriptum” meaning written after the first “written after” if that makes any sense…and not written, written after.

Anyway, here’s a follow up on the previous post’s P.S. and P.P.S.

But, I’ll start with the P.P.S…

A couple of days later when our retreat was over, I felt compelled to go back to the house, which I had pretended to be my own and where the rescuer lived. First of all, I wanted Robert to see exactly where it had happened and see it again for myself. Secondly, I wanted to drop off a thank you note for the man. Sadly, I had forgotten his name, but I wrote a simple note on piece of paper torn from my journal anyway and planned to just stick it in the same door he’d come out of that morning.

(Side note: Thank you notes were ingrained in me. I don’t have a perfect record by any means, but it’s almost like I can’t function properly until proper thanks has been given. And if I owe you a thank you note for anything at all, trust me when I say, the guilt is real. It’s not necessarily a virtue, but rather a condition. Though in this case, I felt a deep need to communicate my gratitude. I get made fun of for this. See below.)

As we pulled into that same driveway, Robert’s reaction to seeing the house validated my own concerns about its appearance. He parked, and I got out with my note. Then, a few seconds later, he got out and followed me toward the door.

There was sort of a hole where the knob should have been, so I attempted to just leave the note in that spot, but the door opened just as I did. A woman and her dog peered through the cracked door, and she sternly and repeatedly asked me to “step back!” I don’t know if she was upset with me for trying to put something on the door, or trying to protect me from the dog. Probably both.

A bit embarrassed, I stepped back, and she came out onto the doorstep without the dog. When I explained who I was and what I was doing, her tone softened and she said her husband had called her right when he got to work on that morning to ask her if she’d heard him talking to me in the driveway. She hadn’t.

Handing her the note, I explained how grateful I was that her husband was willing to give me a safe ride back that morning, as I had been pretty panicked. Our short conversation ended in a very friendly way, and she took my note with much appreciation.

After we said goodbye, and got back into Robert’s truck, he, with half humor, half incredulity asked himself:

“Sir, how did your wife die, exactly?”

And answered himself…

“Oh, she was shot to death while delivering a thank you note.”

See what I mean?

Mocking me for something I just really can’t help.

Okay, here’s the P.S.:

1. No more running alone before 7 or 7:30am in remote or isolated places. If I have to run that early, now I’ll do it in town, on sidewalks along main thoroughfares if possible. This happened last week, so instead of running on the rail trail near my house, which is somewhat remote and wooded on both sides at times, I ran around the UMass campus. (I never run at night, but mornings are equally dangerous, I think.)

2. No running with earbuds – or at least not two earbuds. I wouldn’t have heard the car coming up behind me were I wearing two earbuds with music or podcast going. A couple of weeks ago I was walking up my street on the way to run on the bike trail. I had only one earbud in, and still didn’t realize that a friend from church was behind me trying to get my attention. She was literally calling my name from only a few yards behind me, and I did not hear her at all.

3. Run with a partner if possible. One of my running partners moved to the Boston area and the one who lives with me and usually runs with me every time just had arthroscopic knee surgery, so I’m running alone these days. But for safety, a partner is better. I think my situation would have played out much differently had Robert been running next to me.

4. Know how to use your phone or safety device. I learned that if I press the right side button on my iPhone five times it will automatically sound an alarm and call emergency services. Good to know.  Much better than having 9-1- dialed and ready to hit the last 1 if need be, which I had been doing. Here’s another device you could use.

5. Take your ID and debit card and/or cash. I never do this, but I’m starting this week. Whether I might need to pay for a ride home, or just want to stop in at the grocery store on my way back home from my run, it can’t hurt to have these things. In an emergency situation, you, and the folks who may help you will be grateful.

There are so many more safety precautions I could list, but these are just things that I’m taking away.

The same week of my incident, Mollie Tibbets body was found in a cornfield. Her murderer led police to the place where he left her. Read here and here about how he claims that he blacked out and doesn’t remember anything between approaching her while she was running and hiding her body in the cornfield. Call me the Church Lady, but if he’s telling the truth about not remembering her murder, I believe it’s possible that demonic forces were at work.

This article also popped up in a social media feed somewhere just after the Mollie Tibbets incident. It’s written by a well-known Literature professor at Liberty University about her own scary running incidents and the precaution she now takes. I don’t know if I’ll ever go that far, but you never know.

And now, how about a P.P.P.S?

When the panic and fear subsided, I just felt angry. Angry that this is the world in which we now live. Angry that I can’t fully enjoy this thing that gives me so much life and health, but have to be on my guard. Angry at what seems like the increasing fallenness of the world. Angry that the enemy gets footholds like these.

I know it could be much, much worse, though. I live in a very safe, almost crime free area. The police reports are full of drunk college student pranks, rabid raccoon incidents, and groceries forgotten in the trunk of the car reported as stolen.

But if it can happen in small town cornfields of Iowa, it can happen here. And wisdom requires action, so I’m heeding the lesson and taking precautions.

P.P.P.P.S. Write a thank you note to someone today. It will satisfy your own soul and brighten someone else’s day, too! I promise. (But maybe send it in the mail, rather than stick it in the door of a stranger’s house?)