My Greatest Fear
Sundays usually mean a trip to the bark park, leftover pizza, football and not much else. This morning we had rare knock on our door. I sent LM down to answer it thinking it was a neighbor kid finally coming out after all the rain. Instead I heard an adult male say, “Hey Jake, have you seen Chelsea?”
Chelsea is LM’s best friend. She is two years older and attends the Christian school in town and with all the extra-curricular activities she’s involved in, they don’t see each other very often anymore. She used to live almost next door and now lives about two blocks away, just around the corner. LM is one of the few kids in the neighborhood that Chelsea’s parents will let her play with. Neither of them swear or get involved in any of the typical mischievous behavior typical around here. They both love Star Wars and have imaginations that fuel each other. Chelsea is great for LM, giving him a dose of what having a sister might be like.
Here, at our door this morning, is Chelsea’s dad saying the words that turns the stomach of every parent. “She’s been missing for two hours.”
LM and I both ran to get jeans on and head out the door. LM far ahead of me, his concern palpable. I grabbed Gabe and headed out, fighting the tears as I could hear other neighbor kids walking on the nearby railroad tracks hollering, “Chhheeeeeelllllsss” It sent shivers. I followed the sound of the voices and saw Jacob. I just wanted to hold onto him, with the uncertainty of why Chelsea was missing still lingering.
Her parents were outside their home, you could tell there were neighbors and other kids searching all over the area. Her mom, pregnant, was obviously stricken. LM caught me up on the details. Chelsea had taken the dog for a long walk this morning and then came back home to fulfill her every-Sunday chore of picking up the dog messes in the yard. The scooper was back where it belonged, it was obvious she had completed the task, but there was no sign of her. Her mom added that she was still in her jammie pants.
They had called the police, but thus far no sign of them. Relatives were out in vehicles scanning the area in as many directions as they could.
I hadn’t been there but 5 minutes, trying to gather what else needed to be done, or what area LM and I could cover when they received a call from Chelsea’s grandmother and aunt who said they found her, by car, out on Old Bethlehem Pike. While relief waved over all of us standing there, the question still remained…how did she get all the way out there? It’s at least 10-15 minutes by car. Her bike had apparently been thrown away awhile ago, so no explanation was left as to how she might have made it out there.
After what seemed like forever, the car pulled up that contained the missing child. Grandma signaled from the front that just Mom should come over and I realized that there was no foul play involved, it had been an accident, or a reaction to an argument or something personal with Chelsea. LM and I walked home, getting out of the way of the reunion.
The feeling of loss, the complete fear and helplessness will not soon leave me. I was so scared for her parents. So frightened for what might have been. I know that Chelsea did not need a single reprimand, the crowd waiting her arrival back home was certainly a signal to the severity of the situation.
LM learned a lesson the hard way. He was able to articulate so clearly to me how scared he had felt and that he understood why I need to know where he is, or to check in from time to time. He had been as scared as any adult there today.
We are so thankful that this had a happy ending today. We are so grateful for Chelsea’s safety and that the suffering on her parents was limited to a matter of a few hours and not days. We may never know the whole story and it’s not our business to know. But I am ever-more grateful tonight to have LM here where I can set eyes on him. As our children grow and we begin to see their wings unfold, it can be nothing short of torture on a parent to trust them with their new ability to fly.
Chelsea is LM’s best friend. She is two years older and attends the Christian school in town and with all the extra-curricular activities she’s involved in, they don’t see each other very often anymore. She used to live almost next door and now lives about two blocks away, just around the corner. LM is one of the few kids in the neighborhood that Chelsea’s parents will let her play with. Neither of them swear or get involved in any of the typical mischievous behavior typical around here. They both love Star Wars and have imaginations that fuel each other. Chelsea is great for LM, giving him a dose of what having a sister might be like.
Here, at our door this morning, is Chelsea’s dad saying the words that turns the stomach of every parent. “She’s been missing for two hours.”
LM and I both ran to get jeans on and head out the door. LM far ahead of me, his concern palpable. I grabbed Gabe and headed out, fighting the tears as I could hear other neighbor kids walking on the nearby railroad tracks hollering, “Chhheeeeeelllllsss” It sent shivers. I followed the sound of the voices and saw Jacob. I just wanted to hold onto him, with the uncertainty of why Chelsea was missing still lingering.
Her parents were outside their home, you could tell there were neighbors and other kids searching all over the area. Her mom, pregnant, was obviously stricken. LM caught me up on the details. Chelsea had taken the dog for a long walk this morning and then came back home to fulfill her every-Sunday chore of picking up the dog messes in the yard. The scooper was back where it belonged, it was obvious she had completed the task, but there was no sign of her. Her mom added that she was still in her jammie pants.
They had called the police, but thus far no sign of them. Relatives were out in vehicles scanning the area in as many directions as they could.
I hadn’t been there but 5 minutes, trying to gather what else needed to be done, or what area LM and I could cover when they received a call from Chelsea’s grandmother and aunt who said they found her, by car, out on Old Bethlehem Pike. While relief waved over all of us standing there, the question still remained…how did she get all the way out there? It’s at least 10-15 minutes by car. Her bike had apparently been thrown away awhile ago, so no explanation was left as to how she might have made it out there.
After what seemed like forever, the car pulled up that contained the missing child. Grandma signaled from the front that just Mom should come over and I realized that there was no foul play involved, it had been an accident, or a reaction to an argument or something personal with Chelsea. LM and I walked home, getting out of the way of the reunion.
The feeling of loss, the complete fear and helplessness will not soon leave me. I was so scared for her parents. So frightened for what might have been. I know that Chelsea did not need a single reprimand, the crowd waiting her arrival back home was certainly a signal to the severity of the situation.
LM learned a lesson the hard way. He was able to articulate so clearly to me how scared he had felt and that he understood why I need to know where he is, or to check in from time to time. He had been as scared as any adult there today.
We are so thankful that this had a happy ending today. We are so grateful for Chelsea’s safety and that the suffering on her parents was limited to a matter of a few hours and not days. We may never know the whole story and it’s not our business to know. But I am ever-more grateful tonight to have LM here where I can set eyes on him. As our children grow and we begin to see their wings unfold, it can be nothing short of torture on a parent to trust them with their new ability to fly.
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