Wow. The same reader who started off my day with the yucky Jon Davler lawsuit just redeemed himself by sending me a link to a story in the National Post about a burglar’s remorse. Jake Edmiston reports that the burglar came back and left an apology letter with $50.00 to cover damages to the screen door damaged during the break-in, but it’s the content of the letter that got me:
Dear Family I Have Wronged,
I’m the one who committed the serious crime against your family, and I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart.
I comprimised your feelings of safety in your own home and privacey and that is unforgivable. I want to promise you it was nothing person, and I didn’t go through any of your personal belongings. I’ve been having a very tough time financially and I made the worst mistake of my life.
I regretted it immediatly afterwards… I can’t put into words how sorry I am.
Please accept everything I took plus $50 for repairing the screen. I will also commit to at least 15 hours of community service to help partially atone for what I’ve done. This is the first and last time I will ever commit a crime.
If I could do more for you I would but I can’t reveal myself since getting caught would ruin my life.. Just another reason I’m so ashamed of what I’ve done.
I’ve jeopordized your peace of mind as well as my own.
Please find it in your hearts to forgive the stranger who harmed you.
That the burglar recognized and addressed the psychological impact of the privacy invasion is huge. That s/he went so far as to reassure that personal belongings were not rifled through is even huger.
I don’t know how the victims feel, but if this burglar is ever caught, I hope the courts are merciful.
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Carousel image credit: Regrets, I have a few by incurable hippie, Flickr