Paralyzed

Today I had the scariest moment of my life.

Hands down.

No question.

I have never felt such terror, panic, and helplessness simultaneously.

I took the two girls to a family event at my job.  We waited in line for food. It was a long wait, and Lucy and Caroline were not happy about that.

We got back to our spot and the girls immediately wanted to go play games instead of eating.

I let them go. I could see them playing from where I sat.

A friend came to talk and I took my eyes off of Caroline for 30 seconds.

I looked back at where she was.

She was gone.

Not at the games. Not at our spot. Not with Lucy. Not with the other kids. Not at the food. Not in the parking lot.

I couldn't see her anywhere.

She was gone. And I freaked out.

Five seconds felt like five minutes. And with each passing second I imagined her getting farther and farther from me.

I imagined the worst. I felt paralyzed and frantic all at once.

It was awful.

Some of my friends could see in my face that something was very wrong. Thankfully one of them found her not too far from where we were.

She brought Caroline to my arms and I absolutely lost it. I hate to cry in general, but to do so in public rarely happens. But I lost it. And I continue to tear up whenever I even think about this event.

I am happy that it ended well. But I am still very shaken by how quickly it happened. I shudder to think about what could have happened.

So give your kids a hug. Stuff happens.