inhale...exhale...!

After I got off the train and walked towards the school, I noticed my hubby had left the car parked nearby so I could drive the kids home.

It was almost time for my kids to get out of school and by the time I reached it, the children were barely coming out, so I waited. My son (“B”) was the first one out. I called my sister while waiting for my daughter (“D) to come out. My sis was telling me how she was having a hard time cleaning out her house. After Saturday’s Halloween party, there was a huge mess and she was not even close to finishing!

While talking to her, I kept looking out for my daughter. Pretty soon, everyone was out and no sight of D. I hung up with my sister and called the school to see if D was still inside. They said they would page her. After five minutes of waiting, I went inside the school to find out where she was. The secretary did not know. She offered to page her again and still nothing. I asked her if she knew whether D had drama or a Girl Scout meeting. She checked and said no, she did not know of any meetings. She asked me if somehow D left with a friend and I told her no, we always pick her up Even though I tried not to...I was beginning to worry, after all it has been at least 20 minutes that she's been missing. Where could she be? The principal was there too and she checked on her computer. No, no meeting. She paged her again and tried checking with her room teacher. What the hell is going on! Why is she not in school? O.k…I’m trying to be calm about this… I told them I would check outside again in case I had missed her while coming up.

I walked out the door and no one was there. I walked over to the car and asked B if he’d seen his sister. He said “No, mom.” My heart was starting to beat a little faster than normal. I think it was more like... yes, I was beginning to panic. If she had no meetings or drama class, where else could she be? My mind started racing. Pretty soon, I was imaging all kinds of awful things. Oh, God! I could feel my legs trembling.

I was about to call my husband but decided to call the school one last time to see if they were able to find her. And to my relief, the secretary said she just found out that D was at drama! As she was explaining to me that, apparently, her Monday drama class got canceled and they were making it up today, I realized that I had been holding my breath.

D never told me about it and the secretary had not been aware of it. What I don’t understand is why when they paged my daughter, no one responded?

I began to slowly inhale and exhale and thanked GOD that my daughter was still at school. I felt stupid for overreacting! But I couldn’t help getting that awful feeling in my gut, especially when the school told me she wasn’t there. I can’t even begin to imagine what would have happened if we hadn’t found her! I started thinking of all the families that have lost a child. My prayers go out to them…

Once I got home, I opened the back door to let the dogs out in the yard. Chiquis ran to the gate and takes off as she slips out through the gap. I called her and she would not come. She was running towards a tree near the street. Oh, no! If I chase her she would definitely run out on the street. We live near a main street and traffic is heavy during this time of day. Now I was praying… “Please GOD don’t let her run out on the street.” My son and daughter came outside. They called her a couple of times and after trying to corner her my son somehow managed to grab her. I had my heart in my throat. Phew...! She was real close to crossing that street!

What a day! First my daughter and now this!

Oh, I needed to calm down… I was beginning to feel like nervous wreck!

Inhale… exhale… inhale... exhale…!

O.K. now… I think I can breathe again… !