William's Lost and Found Story

It has taken me this long to put this story into writing. I have mostly neglected the blog since then. Sorry. It was a rough day. Here goes.

So, here is the story behind this picture and the post titled 'Lost and Found' back on May 28th last year.

It was 7:30 am. I had planned on getting up early to exercise, but I didn’t. Callie had climbed in bed with me and I heard William downstairs getting into the cupboards. Then I heard him open and close the door to our mud room. I rolled out of bed, wondering what he was doing. Assuming he was heading out to the garage to ride his bike or something. I used the bathroom, peeked in his room, thinking he maybe had gone back there and not out into the garage, he wasn’t in his bed, and I hadn’t expected him to be there. Got downstairs, no William. Asked Callie where he was (yes, the reliable 4 year old who was with me at the time). She said he was in his room. So, I thought maybe he had been playing on the floor or was buried in his blankets and I just hadn’t seen him. Went into the laundry room, put a wet load in the basket to hang outside and started putting another into the washer.

And then it occurred to me, this just wasn’t adding up. A bit of sudden panic while I ran upstairs. Not in his room. Not in my room, or Callie’s. Back downstairs, not there. Not in the garage. But the garage door was unlocked…and his shoes were gone. More panic. Went outside yelling, looking around at all the usual, and some unusual, places. Sandbox, shed, garden, field out back. Called Jon (because he could be of help from 1.5 hours away at work). Re-checked the house quickly while grabbing keys and Callie. Hopped in the jeep and drove about ¼ mile down each road in each direction. Starting with the usual path we take for walks. Ending with the direction of the house of a neighbor who he had just met the previous day. Nothing. Returned home, called police while checking the house again. The police arrived, one checked the back lot (he later complained that his boots were wet and had grass sticking to them) and one went with me in to check the house again. I knew he wasn’t there, I didn’t want to go back in, but I understand why. We checked the first floor and were in the hall upstairs when she got the radio call that they had found him!

We went back outside to wait. It took a while, Callie wanted to chat with the police officers, I cried a little. They pulled up with him in the back seat, told me I could open the door. I didn’t really know what to do, squeeze him, yell at him, not sure. But I didn’t have a chance, he got out of the car, threw his hands in the air showing off his pudding cup he had and yelled, “I got to go for a walk, and have pudding and ride in a police car, and there’s more police!!!!!” He was SO EXCITED about his WONDERFUL morning!!! Best morning of his life!!!.....worst of mine. So, how do you convey to him that this was wrong and can never ever happen again? The young 20 something police officer said, “Now don’t run off anymore.” Not enough to put the fear of the police into the child, but nice try.

Unfortunately, it gets more fun...We went in to have breakfast. I was in too much shock and allowed him to have that pudding for breakfast. I was still torn between so glad to have him back safe and sound and how do I scold him harsh enough? After breakfast we had to go into town, so we stopped by the home of the people who had found him...or more like whom he had found. They were sweet. They gave the kids each another pudding, more rewards, and invited us to come over in the summer and play with their 5 year old grandkids they would be watching. And then they showed us the man’s huge model train set in the basement. William was in heaven!

So, in the next few months we got bits and pieces of the story from William. He had wanted to go for a walk to his friend Brenton’s house. He almost made it. Brenton lives 1 mile away, he got 0.9 miles. On our very busy 45mph road....on which people, of course, drive 55. He, at one point, ran across the road right in front of a truck. He said, “I went like this (zoom one hand one way) and the truck went like this (zoom other hand perpendicular to and across first arm)” !!!!!!!! Callie asked him, “didn’t you see the truck coming?” to which he answered, “yes”. And she and I, at the same time, said, “then you should not have gone!” Also, from what we can gather, he stopped at at least two other houses. He told the people he was going to school and they told him to go home. He was looking in peoples’ mailboxes (right by the road). And he saw the police go by (which was so exciting for him) and when they went by, “I spied on them, I hid behind a tree.” That’s what he said, in a sneaky voice. He told me they were going to an emergency and was surprised when I explained that HE was the emergency. So, when he finally got to this couple’s house, he didn’t knock or ring the door bell. The man was walking by the door and noticed his head sticking up over the window. He thought that was strange that his grandson was there and wondered where his son-in-law was. He opened the door and said, “Honey, I think you need to come look at this,” to his wife. They told him to come in, he politely took off his shoes and asked where he should put them. They asked if he was hungry, of course he was. They tried to figure out where he lived, there was a house across the field with young kids they thought he may have come from. Then they called the police who put it together quickly who he was and where he belonged. We are so thankful for this kind couple! She is a retired principal and he is a retired teacher. So thankful!

That day William and Callie learned our address and phone number and William decided he wanted to go live with his new friends when Jon and I die.