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Searching for a lost boy in Maine
- Jul 3, 2009 at 6:39 PM
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- Comments (17) Total Views (621) Everyone can see this journal post.
Earlier this afternoon, a neighbor stopped by my parents' house and told them a little boy, about five or six, was walking by himself down our heavily wooded road. When our neighbor asked the little boy who he was, the boy wouldn't tell him or speak to him, so our neighbor wanted to let us know he might come by our house soon.
So I put my sneakers on, put Rose in her stroller, and we set off down the road to see if we could find this little boy. From my parents' house to the end of the road, about a mile, there are no other houses and it's all woods. As I set out with Rosie, I listened to the thunder rumbling in the hills behind us, and I looked in to dark trees along the side of the road, and I imagined how frightening it could be for a lost child. The deer flies swarmed us within moments and I really hoped this kid at least had been sprayed with bug repellent at some point during the day.
I walked very briskly but didn't come across him until the end of the road, when I saw a car parked in front of our neighbor's house with a man by it, handing a phone back to a woman near him. I knew right away he was the father or grandfather of this boy, and as I got closer I saw the kid in the front seat of the car. He had been found.
"You found him!" I said to the man, and he nodded with relief. My neighbor, who had alerted us in the first place about the boy, was enthusiastically chattering in his yard, but I'm hard of hearing so who knows what he was saying.
"I was looking for you!" I said to the boy in the car, and then Rosie and I turned around and walked back home. I was glad the boy had been found before it had gotten dark. I was glad I hadn't been faced with trying to convince a scared and distrustful child, who had probably been taught not to talk to strangers, that I was there to help him. Mostly, I was glad it hadn't been my own five year old son out there by himself, on long country roads.
Then I was just happy I had been able to take a walk with Rosie.
Comments:
I'm happy for the happy ending and for your walk with Joye.
You mentioned something that scares me, though. In this day and age: we DRILL into our children to not talk to strangers. This can be a double edged sword, especially in cases like this one.
That is so good, that it ended well. AND you got to take a good walk, too!
I like a happy ending. :)
Yay for happy endings :-)
I would be scared if I got lost by your house...I always tell my kids that if they are lost, they should look for another mommy to help them - a woman with kids...
I am glad he was found and you the good Samaritan was looking out for him. Any idea why he was wandering?
You mentioned something that scares me, though. In this day and age: we DRILL into our children to not talk to strangers. This can be a double edged sword, especially in cases like this one.
I remember a journal that another mom had here a while ago where she suggested telling your children that if they are lost in a store to find a woman who has children with her, with the assumption that mommies are safe to help. I've read to tell my daughter to look for a person with a name tag in a store, but if she isn't in a store, I think that looking for a woman with children is a pretty good idea.
That is scary and I'm so glad that story had a happy ending. I'm glad there are people like you out there too Joye.
OMG that must have been horrific for him and his parents. Thank God for good people, like you and your neighbors, to drop everything and help him.
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That's so scary. I'm so glad to hear it ended well.