It's difficult to imagine the adrenaline and fear you must have had, or at least I would have been full of adrenaline and fear.

I've never had a home invasion like that. However, I once had a person lightly tap my front door in the middle of the night. Imagine "knock, knock, knock, knock, knock" very light at the front door, every 15 seconds. While we're fully awake, this may not sound like something strange. However, it's extremely bizarre in the middle of a quiet night. My dog went berserk and woke me up before I heard the knocking. At the time, I figured it was somebody trying to determine if anybody was home without disturbing the neighbors (not a bad technique actually). I got my guns. It turned out to be my wife's friend who was escaping an episode with her abusive husband.

Anyway, I learned several things during this practice run:
(1) I cannot operate my big safe's combination too well when I'm half asleep, full of adrenaline, and freaked out.
(2) I can quickly get to my handgun that's in a quick safe.
(3) My gun setup gives me confidence that I can protect my family during a home invasion.
(4) I need to install security cameras.
(5) A dog earns a lifetime of keep from just one of these episodes.