Wake Up Call

On Tuesday I had a terrible scare with Megan, and it made me realize how much I take my family for granted. I had to take Brooke to her dance class at 3:30, which is about the time Megan gets off the bus. So I asked my neighbor LaDawn to watch for Megan and have her wait for me there. On my way home LaDawn called me and said Megan hadn't come home from the bus. So I asked her to call some of the neighbors to see if Megan had gone to one of their homes. I got home a few minutes later and called the school to see if she had missed the bus. She wasn't in the office. LaDawn came over and told me that no one had seen Megan.

Panic set in. In the past several months, we have had 2 possible abduction attempts with kids from our school, so THAT was running through my mind. I didn't know what to do, so I went to the school (1 minute away) to see if she was waiting for me in my office. She wasn't there either. So the secretary Marianne got on the PA system and called for Megan to come to the office. The prinicipal and I walked all around the school to see if Megan was anywhere. I checked in her classroom, but her teacher said she didn't know if Megan got on the bus because the kids had gone home straight from art. I searched the playground, and when I saw she was nowhere to be found, I called Mike and told him what was going on (in tears by this point). He said "Call the cops, I'm coming home right now."

I went back to the office, where Marianne was keeping a cool head (thank goodness). She asked what other friends we could call. I told her Brea and Ashley. I called Brea's house and her mom's cell phone--no answer--while Marianne called Ashley. I was just hanging up when Marianne said "She's there! She's at Ashley's." Relief swept through me, and I suddenly remembered that the day before Megan had asked if she could go to Ashley's after school. I had said yes, but we hadn't talked about it further to confirm the details. I realized that Megan had assumed it was okay to go home with Ashley straight from the bus. I had forgotten, and it hadn't come up again before school on Tuesday. So technically I guess it's my fault for getting all worked up. But now we have a new rule that no matter what I agree to, the kids have to remind me about it on the day it's going to happen, and call me when they get to their destination so I know they are alright.

When things like that happen, it very forcefully reconfirms how much I love my kids, and how much I take them for granted. I am guilty of not taking time each day to consider what a blessing they are in my life. For those minutes that I felt that I could have lost Megan forever, I was sick and overwhelmed thinking what life would be like without her. It's cliche when we say that our kids are our reason for living, but it is so true! What else but intense, enduring, parental love could motivate us to work, teach, protect, and sacrifice for another human being like we do?

Thankfully, tragedy did not visit our family that day. I got a miniscule taste of what some families who have lost a child have to endure every day. I honestly don't know how they carry on. I thank my Heavenly Father that Megan was safe, and could kick MYSELF for being so forgetful (it's happening more and more). Time to go buy some Ginko Biloba I guess!

Here are some recent photos of my beautiful girls. I can't imagine life without them!



Have you hugged your kids today?