The other night we had a very bad scare. It was traumatic to me and it has taken a couple of days of recovery before I could write about it.
The other night after supper, my 13 year old son asked to go to the park. Several of the children go to the park to play after supper. The park is only a block away, and our town is very small. My kids know that they have to be home before it gets dark. It is a family rule. My 14 year old frequently takes a nap after school and stays up a bit later. It is not uncommon to not see him in the evening.
However, darkness fell and we could not find the boys. W searched the house from 3rd floor to basement. We searched the annex, we searched the laundry room (one of my kids disappeared a few months ago and we found him curled up asleep in the warm clean laundry). We searched the house again from bottom to top. We searched the front porch, the side porch and the back porch. We searched the office. We looked down the alley, up and down the streets.
We sent older kids to search the park and later to drive around town checking the school playground, the gas station, the McDonalds and Hardys , the candy store, and the Subway where an older brother works. I started walking around calling their names. A neighbor was out with her dog and heard me calling. She asked what was wrong and I told her. A couple of minutes later she came over with another mother and they started looking too. Then people came by walking their dogs and stopped to see what was going on. They promised to look as they walked. We started knocking on doors asking if any one had seen the boys.
A suspicious vehicle had been parked in front of the neighbors house and moved down the block and parked. A group of mothers went to check them out. They hadn't seen the boys. We called the police and the one officer on duty came right over. She took a report and looked at the photo I had of the boys ( the neighbors had already gotten the photos on their phones and were showing them to people. My husband came out to talk with the officer and fell on the front steps. Neighbors helped him up and the officer asked if he needed an ambulance. He didn't ( although he was pretty banged up). The officer left to drive around looking.
One of the dog walkers talked to another dog walker who reported that he had seen the boys up by main street by the laundry with another kid. Our older kids drove off to follow up that lead. Then came the call that we had been waiting for. The boys were safe and sound. They had been found......at church. It seems that one of the local churches runs a youth center. The kids heard about it from another child and went to check it out. They had not even thought about telling us that they were going. It was four blocks away. Inside, they lost track of time and were stunned to learn that we had been searching and worried.
Soon they arrived home in the car with their older siblings. We called the police to report that they had been found. In small town fashion, the officer came by and lectured the boys about the importance of always letting us know where they are and the importance of being home when they are supposed to.
Two teen boys looked down at their feet and I was reminded of them at 4 and 5 after being caught in the sweets. After some hugs, the boys got to clean the kitchen which had not gotten cleaned while we were all out searching.
If the boys had to be lost, I am so grateful to God that they were found together, in a church, Safe and sound, rather than any of the horrible alternatives that I had feared. The interesting thing is that they didn't know that they were lost. The people at the youth center didn't know that they were lost either. How many of the people around us, the people that we see every day, are lost and don't even know it.
The other night after supper, my 13 year old son asked to go to the park. Several of the children go to the park to play after supper. The park is only a block away, and our town is very small. My kids know that they have to be home before it gets dark. It is a family rule. My 14 year old frequently takes a nap after school and stays up a bit later. It is not uncommon to not see him in the evening.
However, darkness fell and we could not find the boys. W searched the house from 3rd floor to basement. We searched the annex, we searched the laundry room (one of my kids disappeared a few months ago and we found him curled up asleep in the warm clean laundry). We searched the house again from bottom to top. We searched the front porch, the side porch and the back porch. We searched the office. We looked down the alley, up and down the streets.
We sent older kids to search the park and later to drive around town checking the school playground, the gas station, the McDonalds and Hardys , the candy store, and the Subway where an older brother works. I started walking around calling their names. A neighbor was out with her dog and heard me calling. She asked what was wrong and I told her. A couple of minutes later she came over with another mother and they started looking too. Then people came by walking their dogs and stopped to see what was going on. They promised to look as they walked. We started knocking on doors asking if any one had seen the boys.
A suspicious vehicle had been parked in front of the neighbors house and moved down the block and parked. A group of mothers went to check them out. They hadn't seen the boys. We called the police and the one officer on duty came right over. She took a report and looked at the photo I had of the boys ( the neighbors had already gotten the photos on their phones and were showing them to people. My husband came out to talk with the officer and fell on the front steps. Neighbors helped him up and the officer asked if he needed an ambulance. He didn't ( although he was pretty banged up). The officer left to drive around looking.
One of the dog walkers talked to another dog walker who reported that he had seen the boys up by main street by the laundry with another kid. Our older kids drove off to follow up that lead. Then came the call that we had been waiting for. The boys were safe and sound. They had been found......at church. It seems that one of the local churches runs a youth center. The kids heard about it from another child and went to check it out. They had not even thought about telling us that they were going. It was four blocks away. Inside, they lost track of time and were stunned to learn that we had been searching and worried.
Soon they arrived home in the car with their older siblings. We called the police to report that they had been found. In small town fashion, the officer came by and lectured the boys about the importance of always letting us know where they are and the importance of being home when they are supposed to.
Two teen boys looked down at their feet and I was reminded of them at 4 and 5 after being caught in the sweets. After some hugs, the boys got to clean the kitchen which had not gotten cleaned while we were all out searching.
If the boys had to be lost, I am so grateful to God that they were found together, in a church, Safe and sound, rather than any of the horrible alternatives that I had feared. The interesting thing is that they didn't know that they were lost. The people at the youth center didn't know that they were lost either. How many of the people around us, the people that we see every day, are lost and don't even know it.
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