Missing Child

Have you ever had that moment where your heart stops because you have no idea where your child is?

I remember shopping with Rebecca when she was little and, all of a sudden, she was nowhere to be seen. How did she disappear so fast?? I was frantic trying to find her, and then she poked her head out from the middle of one of the clothes racks. I was so relieved and so upset that I had let her out of my sight.

I remember all of the things that ran through my head in those few minutes that she was missing. Had she been taken, was she lost somewhere and crying, would I ever see her again, how could I be so careless? Where could she possibly be?

Now that we have four children, we find we are very relaxed parents. We don’t gasp and jump up to help every time someone trips and falls, we don’t stress over bee stings or candies that fall on the ground only to be put back in a little mouth. We are still mindful of our children, but maybe a little less easy to freak out.

Yesterday, I freaked out.

We were sitting watching Rebecca’s soccer game with my parents, and we were all pretty focused and cheering her on. When there was a break in play, Rebecca looked over and said “Where’s Siobhan?”

I assumed she was on the bleachers climbing around by Tom. Tom thought she was on the ground behind the bleachers. We both turned to look, and sure enough, she was gone.

Ethan and Tom ran up the hill to the next field and I scanned the area we were in with the same questions running through my head as when Rebecca was “missing.”

Minutes passed like hours as I wondered which direction she had gone in. It was scarier too in this open space where there were cars and roads to consider.

Ethan found her beyond the other hill… in the parking lot. Tom and Ethan were calling her name and finally she jumped out from behind a car and yelled “Here I am!” like she was playing hide and seek.

Have you ever had one of those moments?