"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life;
to put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived." ~Henry David Thoreau

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Kindness of Strangers

Today we went to Wheeler Farm with friends. We met up with Brandi and her kids, and also Sarah Stiles and her little boy, Cameron. It was a gorgeous day and there was barely a cloud in the sky. I guess everyone else in the area had the same idea as us because the place was packed.

Around noon, we found a shady picnic spot and were about to eat. Brandi had to run back to her car to grab something and she turned to me before she walked away and said "Is it okay if I leave the boys with you?" She was taking the baby with her. I assured her it was fine and she left. Sarah and I sat there and talked as we got lunches ready for the kids.

After a few minutes I started to count heads and realized Andrew was gone. That two year old boy of Brandi's is a dare devil and he gives them a run for their money. We've always joked that he would go to an early grave because he is fearless and likes to wander. Well this time it was no joke, and sheer panic went through my body. When I started freaking out, Sarah said she was sure that he had gone with Brandi. We seemed to get things cleared up, but the sick feeling in my stomach still remained. I asked her several times if she was sure he'd gone with his mom, and she kept saying she was sure.

I finally saw Brandi coming back down the path...but Andrew was no where to be seen. Again I started to panic and I ran to her and about screamed "Is Andrew with you?!" The next few seconds were a blur. Trying to make a long story short, the two of us ran around screaming ANDREW!!! Sarah stayed at the table with the kids.

There is a very fast moving canal that runs through the farm and earlier in the day Andrew had been caught trying to escape to it. It is so fast moving and there is nothing at the bank to keep a person from falling in. All we could think of was that he was in the canal...his little body pinned up against a tree trunk or something like that. Brandi took off one way and I took off the other.

ANDREW!!!! I screamed it at least 1,000 times. There were scads of mothers with children out there and everyone kept offering their help, also running around screaming his name. Within half a minute the employees were all radioing each other giving details of what had happened. Teams of people began looking up and down the banks of the canal. That is something that no parent should have to see...people searching for a child's body. It's hard for a pregnant woman to run, let alone sprint from one end of the area to the other. But it's true that when the adrenaline starts pumping the body becomes like a locomotive.

At one point I heard a woman ask if she could call the police and I said YES!! That was the longest ten minutes of my life. Brandi headed back in the direction of the parking lot right as a woman came walking toward her with a perfectly healthy Andrew in her arms. She began sobbing even harder when she saw him, and when I saw him I felt like I was having a heart attack.

I've never felt pain like that in my chest before. The stress did a number on my pregnant heart and I couldn't breathe. We all sat down at the table and someone brought me a paper sack out of the nearby gift shop. I've never hyperventilated before, at least not to that extreme. Just then the police showed up but still had to question us to make sure things were okay. Thank goodness things were okay. Thank GOODNESS they were!

Brandi is like a sister to me. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends and we've been through so much together. Her children are like my own and when Andrew was missing, and I thought that it had been my fault, I can't explain what that felt like. Later after the chaos died down and we discussed what had happened, we realized how amazing it was that all of those strangers helped in such a way. I think that every parent there had a glimpse of what we must be feeling. It's a parent's worst nightmare come true when their child goes missing and I'm grateful that they all rallied behind us to help. Two women were even sobbing as they searched. In a strange way it renewed my faith in humanity.

On the way home the kids and I had a long time to discuss the events of the day. Just that morning as we were about to pull out of the garage, I realized we'd missed our morning devotional and that we needed to have a quick prayer. I asked that we would all be protected as we made the trip to the Farm and that no one would get lost or hurt. As we drove home Hailey said "Mommy, I think that Jesus found Andrew and kept him safe for us." I started to bawl all over again. I'm so thankful for the protection that the Lord offers us. I know that Andrew had an assigned guardian angel today and that he was kept safe because of that. I know that the Lord hears our prayers and in our time of need He sends us blessings...like the kindness of strangers.

4 comments:

Bel said...

Oh wow that is so scary!!! I am glad you found him! I was crying just reading the post. That is my worst nightmare to have Bri go missing, I would die if that happened, but I am so glad that was not the case and everyone came together and found him well and safe. Phew!

Sarah Stiles said...

Hailey is SUCH a sweetheart! That was a harrowing experience, for sure. Honestly, I am surprised it wasn't Cameron. He is ALWAYS getting away from me. Did you notice how he was constantly falling behind or wandering away form the group? Sometimes I wish I was a spider so that I could keep more eyes on him! But the rest of the day was tons of fun! I hope we can get together again soon. Cameron was so happy to see his friend Ethan again:-)

Ute Family said...

Oh my gosh I don't even know what to say to that. So scary! So glad everything worked out! And what a great perspective, spiritually!

BTW, I love Hailey's new haircut. So cute. You did a great job :)

bethany said...

I can't even imagine how scary that must have been!! I'm so glad that he was found and fine. I have a daredevil/wanderer as well and I am always afraid that might happen to me.

I really appreciate the comments on my blog about places to live. We stayed an extra day in UT and drove up to the SLC area. We found Fox Boro and drove around-so nice!! We are just looking to rent (our house here in Phx is worth 30% of what we bought it for, so we've got to deal with that mess) but didn't see many homes in the area for rent. If you hear of any, please let me know! We looked in Bountiful and down in the city as well. Hopefully everything will fall into place soon! Thanks so much Veronica!! It would be great fun to be neighbors!