Losing a child. . . .
You think, "That would never happen to me. I keep and eye on my kids."
"The parents that loose their kids are pre-occupied and don't pay attention to their kids"
"How do you not know where your kids are every second."
That's just it, it happens in a second.
We were all enjoying a lovely day in Oak Glen, a local apple orchard. There is so much to do there! Cool hiking trails, picnics, playgrounds, apple picking, etc. . .
After a hike and lunch, we headed to the "town" area to go to what promised to be a fantastic petting zoo! We park, get all of our gear in the stroller, and head out. This place was SO busy. It was hard to maneuver the stroller through the crowd. We stopped at the top of the hill lined with vendors to decide our plan of action. We headed down the hill to find the petting zoo. We stopped to look at bow and arrows.
I realize this has been WAY too long for Capri to have been sitting in the stroller. She had to be upset. I look. . . she's not there. My heart didn't drop completely. I though she must be with another adult. I ask. . . when they all looked at blank faces: MY HEART DROPPED.
We began looking in the little inlet that we were in. NO LUCK.
David manned the exit (there were multiple) that we were closest to. Danielle kept track of the other kids. Bobby and I begin our search.
She was wearing bright green. That's what I kept telling myself. We had been looking for about 5 minutes, and had no idea how long she had been out of the stroller. I begin to panic:
What if she is in a car heading down the hill.What if she is in the crowd crying and nobody can tell because of the noise. It's been too long. We need to call the police. Our phones don't have reception. Grab the phone of person next to you. SCREAM! Don't scream that will only cause panic.
STOP letting your mind wander and focus on GREEN!
I see GREEN in another inlet. . . It's a stroller. . .heart drops more. . . Panic rises again:
God, protect her. It's been too long. Where is my baby girl? Where is Bobby? What if he has her and I am panicking. He can't call me. What if he doesn't have her? Call someone. Grab a phone. Calm down and focus. Bobby won't be panicking. He will take action when he feels it's been too long.
Back to green.
Back to green.
I see green again. . . IT'S HER!!! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!! I have never held her tighter before! She wasn't scared until she saw me! Then she started crying.
A woman and her 3 daughters noticed she wasn't with anybody and picked her up, at the top of the hill. Thank God, it was a woman! They were taking her to where all the music was to have somebody announce that they had found her.
That was the scariest day of my life! It has been 3 weeks and I can't stop thanking God that she is with us. Our life could be very different right now if we hadn't found her.
Snuggles your babies a little tighter today and every day!
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| The petting zoo WAS awesome! I relished in that I could enjoy it with my girl. |
