A terrible experience I hope to never repeat...

Yesterday was a terrible day. Well, not the whole day, but the effects of my experience lasted the whole day, so that is close enough.

The day started off pretty well. Kyle and I were hanging out at the house. We went for a bike ride around the park and came back home. He asked if he could have some of his birthday cake, so I set him up to the counter with a piece of cake and went in to the office to check email and do some scrapbooking. About 15 minutes later(no more cuz I knew when we returned from our bike ride), I thought "wow he's being really quiet, I better go check on him." I went to the kitchen and he wasn't there. He wasn't in the family room either. I called for him, no answer. So I went out the back door and called for him...nothing. I went out front expecting to find him on his bike in the front yard...nothing. I decided to check the park across the street, so I walked over to where he likes to play...again nothing. I was starting to get a really sick feeling in my stomach. I went to the garage and noticed his bike was there, but his scooter was gone, so I hopped on my bike and headed back over to the park. Maybe he had decided to go a bit farther than he is allowed on his own. I rode through the park checking all the kids favorite spots to play...still nothing. I went home and decided to check the house again more thoroughly. It wouldn't be the first time he thought it was funny to hide from me. I checked under the beds, in the closets, the basement...nothing. By now(it's been about 20 minutes since I started looking), I am getting pretty hysterical. I went back and checked the park one more time, the restrooms, the ditch. He was nowhere to be found. Now my emotions had the better of me and I called my in-laws to come and help. I think my exact word were "I can't find Kyle and I don't know what to do." Within a couple of minutes, David, Bjorg, and Kari were at my house to help. I told them the story and David headed off to the park in one direction, Kari got in the car and started driving the neighborhood, and mom helped me call the police then she went off into the park the other direction. The police told me to stay at the house and wait for an officer, so I sat (well, I paced) on the front porch while every possible scary scenario played through my head. Has he fallen in the pond and drowned? Did he go into the park and someone has picked him up and taken him? Has someone hurt him? Has he been hit by a car somewhere? Will I ever see him again? and How in the world am I ever going to tell Mike I lost our son? 10 minutes pass, 15 minutes pass, 20 minutes pass. Other people in the park are looking for Kyle too. I said a little prayer and asked my Heavenly Father to please help us find Kyle. Finally after about 25 minutes an officer shows up at my house. He said that everyone split in different directions to look for him, but nobody remembered to come to me, so he was there now. He asked me what happened, how long Kyle had been gone (now it's been almost an hour), he asked if he's ever run off before etc. About 4 minutes into our conversation he gets a call on the radio...they found him, at the swim beach. My first thought was how did he get to the swim beach and how and why in the world would he ever cross 29th street. A couple minutes later the officer came back and said "he's with a neighbor...she said she told him to ask you if it was okay to go with her and he came back and said you said it was okay." I had several thoughts hit me all at once...he hadn't crossed the busy street alone, he told a lie in order to go, oh my poor neighbor she must feel terrible, and he's okay!!!! The officer who found him, brought him home in her squad car. I think he was fine until he saw me and then he started to cry. Of course, I looked a mess and I think he understood how scared I was. ME, all I could feel was relief to have him back. After the police officer left, we said a little prayer of thanks and gratitude to have Kyle returned to us safe and sound.

That was by far the worst hour (or a little more than an hour)of my life. After he was home, I held him. I made him lay with me on the couch and I held him. I didn't want to let him out of my arms. It took several hours for my heart rate to return to normal and my eyes to dry out.

Funny thing about this is that Bjorg and Kari had just returned from their walk around the lake. They remembered seeing kids playing at the lake, but hadn't recognized Kyle. He saw and recognized them but chose not to say anything to them. Perhaps he knew he would be in trouble for not talking to me about it, who knows.

The police officers had a talk with Kyle about always making sure to ask or tell mom before he goes anywhere and to never scare me like that again. I also had a talk with him and let him know how much it scared me when I couldn't find him and told him he must ALWAYS tell me before he goes anywhere and he is not allowed to sneak out of the house anymore( I was crying as I told him these things, so I am sure it had a huge impact on him). We also talked about the fact that he told a lie to the neighbor and that was very bad. And while I think he liked the ride in the police car, I don't think he will do anything like this again. At least I hope not. I don't know if my heart could take it.

I was so grateful to be able to call Mike and tell him that the lost was found. I was also very grateful for Bjorg, David, and Kari for coming to my aid. In addition, the Loveland PD was so awesome. They jumped into action and found him very quickly. I feel very blessed that this incident turned out the way it did, but when I think about how I felt yesterday, the emotion is so fresh, that I tear up.