Yesterday, I experienced the most horrible 15 minutes of my life. I hope never to experience it again, ever! It was pretty much a lazy day at home for us. The night before was my oldest daughter's Prom (I'll talk about that another time and I've got some pics!), my hubby wasn't feeling well, hasn't for a couple of days and the stubborn man refuses to go to the doctor, so we were basically home thawing out, doing nothing but lazying around, in bed, around the computer, taking turns, and grazing in the refrigerator when we get hungry!
It was late afternoon, or evening because it was around 4pm and I finally decided I have got to get ready to run out to the stores to get some replenishment of supplies and also something to cook for dinner. We had stuff in the fridge but the kids wanted their fav Spaghetti and Meat sauce and I was out of those items. I got my five year old ready, then I got myself ready. My hubby decided that he wanted to tag along so we were waiting on him. My son's friend came to the door and he went to the door to talk to him.
My daughter, the five year old usually takes that opportunity to slip outside and hang around them. I warned her not to go off anywhere because we were almost ready to go.
I'm inside, waiting on my hubby, while doing something which I don't remember now. My son was still outside, my daughter was playing with the neighbor's kid when I checked, right out at the steps leading up to their apts, which is right outside our door. She asked me if she could go to the playground with her friend, I said no way, not on your own and we're almost ready so don't go nowhere.
My son came inside, I reminded her, don't move, while I grab my bag, etc. It took me an extra five mins to get outside and when I did, she was nowhere to be found.
I scanned the area, calling out her name. I came back inside and told hubby lets go because she's gone to the playground and she is in BIG trouble! We drove to the front where we have to go by to exit our complex. I scanned the area, no sign of her, I got out of the car and walked around, no sign of her. Hubby decided to take one side of the complex, while I take the other side and off I went searching for her.
I'm calling out her name, yelling, walking fast getting overly anxious because there's no sign of her friend, none of her, no bikes in sight anywhere! I called home to alert her older sister, call her brother on his cell since he had gone to his friend's out and by this time I was screaming!
I walked up and down, inside and out and scoured the outside area, which there was a lake across the street, not directly but it was there, there was a pool, I checked, nothing.
Then I went to where my hubby was supposed to be, no sign of him. I ran back towards our home, where I saw him going through the back way to search for her. I'm knocking on the homes of her friends, and having my oldest check the little girl's home to see if they were there. Nothing.
I dialed 911. I was hysterical by this time and I was also mad and frantic.
I am giving description and I had to take a breath because the worse case scenarios was playing out in my mind. HOW could I have lost my baby so quickly, why didn't I just hold on to her, what if, what if......
The dispatcher had me on the line while I went back to look inside my home to see if she was in her room or had shown up, no go. Then my oldest daughter came walking towards me with her in her arms and I was frantic asking if she was alright. I told the police we found her and she was OK.
Where was she? Over by the Volley ball court, which was near the pool where I already looked, obviously, not well enough! I didn't see her because she was on the ground, she and her friend, making sand angels!
I was mad, yes I was. I was mostly mad at me, even though a little upset with her. Then my hubby was mad at me because I dialed the police so quickly so we had a mini shouting match while walking to our home. It wasn't pretty and my daughter was screaming her head off when she realised how much trouble she caused.
I guess it was our reaction to the situation. And I told my hubby I didn't care, we couldn't find her and I had to call the police. His thing was it was only 15mins, we were still looking and we had to be sure before doing that. I said to him that all it does take is 15 minutes for anyone to take her as far away from here as possible! That shut him up!
In less than 30 minutes the police was at our door. I'm glad to see the response time was that fast! We assured them she was OK, they wrote their report and I held on to her as tight as possible. She got a little lecture, reassurances that we love her and that we were just scared something had happened to her. I gave her a bath because she was so messy with sand and then we went on our way to get supplies. Needless to say, I held on to her as tight as possible, and she slept in our bed last night!
I was exhausted, so exhausted. I didn't realise how much that took out of me. I felt as if I had aged by 10 years. It's not a good feeling! It's not a good thing on the eve of my birthday! But thank God for us, everything turned out alright!