Close Call

There are moments in each parent's life when this happens. It started out as any normal night; watching tv with the kids, laughing at what happened at school today and taking care of Maddison who was laying on the couch in the other room watching a show... She is not feeling the greatest, so I was checking on her quite frequently.

Then it happened.
10 minutes after checking on her, I decided I had better do it again because she was running a fever,
but she was gone.
I asked JD to go and find her, but he said that he couldn't.
It didn't dawn on me that she was actually gone, probably just playing upstairs or in mom's room, but when all the kids came downstairs with becca and she asked me if I had found Maddison yet,
it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I quickly went to check mom's room, the green room, the kitchen, laundry room, both computer rooms, but there was no Maddison. I sent the kids outside and quickly got my shoes on. I told Kevin that I could not find her and he came outside to help.

Fear is a funny thing. I just knew that she had went over to Jamie's house so I sent becca over to check,
yet again,
but when I saw Robert come outside and start looking,
I literally thought my heart was going to stop.
Both Kevin and I were almost in tears, but it was like the fear was so consuming that it was impossible to stop looking.

I asked a couple of neighbor kids if they had seen her,
we searched the house again and again,
we searched the outside over and over and as a mother I just knew that she had wandered off and fell into a man-hole or was scared and cold,
or crying because she could not find her way home.

Realization is a scary thing.
There is nothing more terrifying to a parent to lose a child and have no where else to look.
Then the best thing I have ever seen,
Becca walking out of the post-office lobby carrying my Maddison who was completely asleep.

I have lost everyone of my children at least once, and have found everyone of them in that dang postoffice lobby asleep.
Then, you get those overwhelming feeling of love for your child. I swear that a parent cannot know the love they possess for their child until they lose them.

Keep and eye on your children because you never know if it will be just another close call.

Love Jerri