Jul 31, 2008

Not sure what to call this...

I just got home from the most emotionally, physically, spiritually draining experience of my life (I hope). Tomorrow is Haylie's birthday and so being "the good parents that we are" we put her to bed early so she could get a good night's sleep. Being as it was still light out, Joe and I decided to go outside and do some yard work. We were probably out there for about 15-20 minutes... Right when we walked in the door, we heard our doorbell ringing... our neighbor and another lady were standing there and they say, "Do you have a little girl with a green shirt that's carrying a cup?" My heart immediately jumped into my throat. I ran outside, looked around the corner of the house to see if the garage was opened (which it was) and sprinted back inside for the keys. The road that leads to our avenue is probably 3/4 mile long. Haylie was over half way down it, barefoot, after the sun was set. A man was holding her. I don't know what else to say. I grabbed her, burst into tears, and yelled at her. What do you say to someone who has found your child wandering down a road all alone? The endless list of what ifs just keep filling my mind and I'm afraid it won't be over until I cry myself to sleep. Actually, it'll probably never be over. I'm sure I'll remember this night forever. I told her, "Haylie someone will take you away and never bring you back and you'll never see Mom or Dad or Connor again," thinking it might sink in a bit.... Her response, "I wanted to see the boy." What do you say? What do I tell her to make her understand? Why did I assume that telling her a couple of times not to touch the garage door button would mean nothing? Any comforting thoughts/words would be greatly appreciated.

1 comment:

Kim said...

Oh my gosh Cassi - that is so scary I'm so sorry that happened it gave me a huge pit in my stomach! I'm just so glad it ended the way it did. I guess you need to emphasize that there are bad people out there and that she can NEVER go anywhere with mommy! Not that it will necessarily work, but if she hears it enough something may sink in. I tell Bronx that a bad man will take him when he used to runaway and then he started to say he wanted to see the bad man... I guess that backfired some:) What did the man say to you? Don't beat yourself up, you are a great mom who loves her kids and they are so lucky. There are many children who don't have that. I think it'll just be one of those things that make you extra cautious, but that okay it's good to be really cautious:)