annmarie62
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2009
- Messages
- 400
- Reaction score
- 5
Last year, my son was 11 and he walked home from school every day. We lived too "close" (SC law says one must live over a mile from the school for bus pickup; I didn't have a car and couldn't always make it to walk home with him due to working at home-) Anyway, one day last spring the fears I had kept pushed down all came to a head: he didn't come home on time and he KNEW that was my #1 rule. Soooo... he usually got home between 2:45 and
2:50. By 2:51 I was in the yard, screaming his name, in case he was close and I was just overreacting- but no baby boy. (He will be my baby boy until the day I die, of course!). By 3:10 I was at my neighbor's door and thank God she was home cause she's always working; anyway as soon as she saw my face and heard me say I had to find my son we hauled butt to his school in her car. By then the staff had mostly cleared out, there was one woman in the office getting ready to leave and we had her use the PA to see if he was on the school grounds or if he had stayed after for some reason. No response. By now it's about 3:25. She asked me if I wanted to call 911 and I just LOST IT and broke down into a crying, shaking mess. Praying to God, Oh Jesus help me!! My neighbor, bless her heart, is a strong woman and she said, "Okay, here's what, we are going to check your house one more time and if he's not there we will call 911"- so that's what we did. When we drove up, I didn't find him and just as I was reaching for the phone (like in a dream, a f/n nightmare)- he pops in the back door "Hey mom!" What had happened was that a school friend was picked up by his grandma that day and they said they'd give him a ride- but first he could go to the GROCERY STORE with them! My son, being 11, never thought to have her call me but it was her fault as the adult... and it'd only be a few minutes, right? So- thank God. My neighbor still remembers that day ("Oh God- your face when you first came over!" she still says) And I still remember that feeling of guilt because I didn't have a car and his walking home alone was all my fault... O/T I guess but here's my POINT: ALL of this panic, fear, and actual TERROR occurred within ONE HOUR. Within ONE HOUR my world was destroyed, within that SAME hour it was restored. I will never EVER forget how it felt the first few minutes of thinking, "So this is what it's like to maybe have a missing child!!" I wouldn't wish that agony on anyone. Therefore, in response to this thread, I have but one answer to give as I join in the Greek chorus of:
THIRTY-ONE DAYS. THIRTY-ONE DAYS. THIRTY-ONE @#*!$%! D-A-Y-S!!!!!!
2:50. By 2:51 I was in the yard, screaming his name, in case he was close and I was just overreacting- but no baby boy. (He will be my baby boy until the day I die, of course!). By 3:10 I was at my neighbor's door and thank God she was home cause she's always working; anyway as soon as she saw my face and heard me say I had to find my son we hauled butt to his school in her car. By then the staff had mostly cleared out, there was one woman in the office getting ready to leave and we had her use the PA to see if he was on the school grounds or if he had stayed after for some reason. No response. By now it's about 3:25. She asked me if I wanted to call 911 and I just LOST IT and broke down into a crying, shaking mess. Praying to God, Oh Jesus help me!! My neighbor, bless her heart, is a strong woman and she said, "Okay, here's what, we are going to check your house one more time and if he's not there we will call 911"- so that's what we did. When we drove up, I didn't find him and just as I was reaching for the phone (like in a dream, a f/n nightmare)- he pops in the back door "Hey mom!" What had happened was that a school friend was picked up by his grandma that day and they said they'd give him a ride- but first he could go to the GROCERY STORE with them! My son, being 11, never thought to have her call me but it was her fault as the adult... and it'd only be a few minutes, right? So- thank God. My neighbor still remembers that day ("Oh God- your face when you first came over!" she still says) And I still remember that feeling of guilt because I didn't have a car and his walking home alone was all my fault... O/T I guess but here's my POINT: ALL of this panic, fear, and actual TERROR occurred within ONE HOUR. Within ONE HOUR my world was destroyed, within that SAME hour it was restored. I will never EVER forget how it felt the first few minutes of thinking, "So this is what it's like to maybe have a missing child!!" I wouldn't wish that agony on anyone. Therefore, in response to this thread, I have but one answer to give as I join in the Greek chorus of:
THIRTY-ONE DAYS. THIRTY-ONE DAYS. THIRTY-ONE @#*!$%! D-A-Y-S!!!!!!