I was raised in a small town in Northwest Indiana. It was and still is a safe place to live and raise a family. As a result of growing up in a town like that, I expect to feel safe if I'm out late at night. In fact, I have regularly taken nightly walks around town in my home town as well as my new home in an even smaller town not too far away. I've literally done this at least once a week (and sometimes every night) throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall and have never felt unsafe. I had the impression that just about everywhere outside of Portage, IN in our county was equally safe. I was wrong.

Last night, I grabbed my Rosary and went for a long walk in Valparaiso, IN so I could get my 10,000 steps in before midnight. Towards the end of the walk, a bit after midnight, I heard a man yelling a little more than a block behind me. I tend to think the best of people, so I assumed he was far enough away to be yelling at someone else. As I was about to pass Kirchoff Park on Roosevelt, I heard the man yelling again, "Turn around! Turn the f**k around." This time closer, but still a safe distance behind me. Still walking, I glanced over my shoulder and spotted an African-American male with short hair in a dark t-shirt and gray sweatpants mean-mugging me from across the street and behind me, but catching up fast.

Listening to his footsteps, I decided to keep going at the same quick pace knowing it would take a bit for him to catch up without running. And then I heard his footsteps quicken to a run. As I turned around to assess the threat, I reached in my pocket, pulled out my cell phone, and in a smooth motion; unlocked it, opened the phone app, turned on the speaker phone option, and very deliberately held the "9" button down for a moment. He stopped running, but was now walking directly across the street from my position glaring at me.

At this point, I decided to take my foot off the gas and let him pass me a bit. Realistically, there was no way my 40 year old, overweight body was going to outrun an athletically built guy in his 20s. Attempting to do so would just leave me winded and at a disadvantage in a fight. Instead, I slowed down, threw my shoulders back, and made myself look at intimidating as possible to make him think twice. Then suddenly, the guy ran ahead and hid behind a truck in a driveway. I then hit "1 - 1" on my phone and significantly slowed my pace.

With 9-1-1 now queued in my phone and my thumb a half inch above the call button, some headlights appeared from behind us. Confident the guy wouldn't run out and do this in front of a car, I steadied my breathing a bit and prepared my quick message to a 9-1-1 operator if the guy still decided to make a move.

However, much to my surprise, as the car passed the truck the guy was hiding behind, the car slowed down and eventually came to a stop. When it did, the guy jumped into the vehicle and they took off.

In hindsight, I wish I took note of the license plate number and called the 9-1-1 dispatcher anyway. However, truth be told, I was so relieved the situation was over, the thought didn't even cross my mind until five minutes later.

Anyway, it was a pretty enlightening experience. I learned that Valpo isn't nearly as safe as the marketing and the city's cheerleaders led me to believe. I told Katie about this, she asked where I learned the 9-1-1 on speaker strategy came from. It was purely instinctual, but remarkably effective, so I chalked up the idea to divine inspiration from the Holy Spirit. However, I'm definitely using this strategy if, God forbid, I ever find myself in this situation again.

I'm also going to have to transform myself into being a morning person if I want to walk in Valpo again.