Yesterday Frankie went by himself to go pick Bradley up from school. We always get there early so we can park right up front, grab him, and get out of there. I stayed home with Landon because we were going to see Santa at the mall after school and I had to feed him and pack the diaper bag and what not. Bradley gets out of school at 3:46 and when it was almost 4:00 and they weren't home I was getting annoyed because I wanted to get the show on the road. Well at 4:00 Frankie calls and this is how the conversation went:
Frankie- "Bradley never came out."
me- "What do you mean?!?"
Frankie- "All the kids are gone and he never came out!"
me- "Oh my gosh! Did you go to the office?!?"
Frankie- "I'm going there now. I just went around the corner and everyone is gone. I peeked into SafeKey. He's not there."
*Just a little note. I'm ALWAYS there to get Bradley. He never goes home with anyone else. Sometimes I get out of the truck and wait for him and chat with my mom friends, but he usually just walks to the truck that's parked not too far away. It's very routine.
me-"Oh my gosh, bleep bleep bleep...!!!"
I could hear Frankie talking to them. They page him on the loud speaker.
We hang up.
Frankie calls back.
me-"Did you find him?!!!"
Frankie (very worried)-"No!"
He runs down the hall to his classroom where he finds a substitute. "Was Bradley Farina in class today?"
substitute- "Yep. He left with the rest of the class."
At this time I'm getting Landon's infant car seat and loading him up to drive where we walk, when we walk home together.
At this point my mind is racing. It's 4:10ish and he's been out of school for almost a half an hour. WHERE IS MY BRADLEY??? He was nowhere on the walking route home so now I'm in FULL ON FREAK OUT MODE!!! I cruise around the school once to see if he's standing around. Then I call my mom crying,"We can't find Bradley!!!" So she's all freaked out now but I had to hang up because then I pull up to the school where Frankie's standing looking very pale, and one of the office workers comes and gets Landon out of the car because I'm crying at this point worried out of my mind! (I wasn't throwing myself on the ground, or making a huge scene- just VERY freaked out.)
The office lady says,"Is there any friend you think he would have gone home with?"
me- "No! I always pick him up. And what parent would take him home without talking to me??"
office lady- "Maybe he walked home with a friend."
me-"He wouldn't do that. He's never done that!"
We go into the office where the principal (Mrs. Douglass- love her!) is calling his teacher at home asking if she knew anyone that she thinks Bradley could have left with. Mrs. Marcus said,"That doesn't sound like Bradley." I know this because he's very cautious. Mrs. Douglass kept reassuring me, "Don't worry. We'll find him. This happens about once a week." My mind is hurting because everything that could have possibly happened was running through my mind. Frankie had left in the Tahoe and I didn't know where he was going and barely noticed he left. I think it was the lack of oxygen to my brain. The secretary was calling some friends from class to see if they knew anything. I don't know the lady's name (who I'm referring to as the office worker lady) but she was like a little angel entertaining Landon and calming me down reminding me to breathe because I was still crying, feeling very helpless, I wish I knew who she was. By this time it's almost 4:30 and I get a call from Frankie. "He's ringing our doorbell!!!" So I say,"WE FOUND HIM!" I was SO relieved, I can't even put it into words! Frankie said that Bradley told him that he walked home.
They were right! I didn't think Bradley would ever do that. But they were right. Of course Bradley is totally oblivious to why we're all totally freaked out. He's just wondering why I'm not answering the door. Ummm, because I'm at the school looking for you!!! About to have a heart attack!
Mrs. Douglass comes and gives me a big hug. Thank goodness for her! She was so calm about the whole thing because Lord knows if she was showing any kind of panic I would have been even more freaked out (if that's possible). And the lady who was calming me down joked,"Now when you get home don't beat the crap out of him." I said, "Don't worry. I'm too relieved to be mad that he decided today would be the day that he walked home alone... Give me a couple hours." Then we hugged. And the world seemed whole again. My Bradley was OKAY!!!
Bradley said that he didn't see the Tahoe, which I just can't imagine because we park right up in the front. But then I couldn't help but ask Frankie,"Why weren't you looking for him after the bell rang as the kids were walking out from the gate? I always do." Frankie, "I don't know. He just always walks up to the truck." Me," How did you NOT see him walk right by on the sidewalk??" Basically Frankie never thought Bradley would do that, nor did I. We still keep looking at each other saying," I can't believe he walked home by himself."
*Just another little side note. The reason I didn't see him walking where we usually would walk on our way home is because there is a registered sex offender in our neighborhood (Yeah, I'm really thrilled about that! It's not too close to our house, but it's still too close for comfort.) and I've shown him the house and told him never to go near it or talk to the man who lives there. He said,"Mom I went the long way so I wouldn't have to walk by the bad guys house." At least he did remember what I told him and was smart enough to steer clear of "the bad guys house".
Moral of the story, IT'S THE WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD NOT KNOWING WHERE YOUR CHILD IS!!! I really don't know what I'd do without my Bradley! Thank the Lord that he made it home safe and sound. I'm so thankful everyone in the office made me feel calm (as calm as I could be) in the situation.
And yes, we still got to go see Santa!
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12 comments:
How scary! I know the panic-y feeling. Several years ago at the beach, I was sure Michael had been drowned or kidnapped because I couldn't find him anywhere for a long time. It was an awful feeling and I totally relate.
I got the panicked call from mom and then the relived call that Bradley had been found before I could even call anyone. I'm sure Tyler will enjoy telling you about the time he (and maybe Dustin) and a friend decided to walk home from school when we lived in Utah. They decided not to get on the bus, walk under the freeway, over the railroad tracks, and finally home! YIKES!!! Kids = no brains (sometimes). But we still love 'em anyway!!!
Kiersted did the same crap the other day when I went to pick her up from Daycare!!! Kids!
I do remember walking home from school in Kindergarten. I remember being so excited to tell mom and dad that I had walked home when I walked throught the door. They didn't share the same excitement. It was a different sort of excitement!
Holy Crap I can relate too. It is such a panic Not knowing~hoping~
wondering~praying~finding. Maggie ran away from me once when she was 3 in the JC Penny at the mall and I didn't know whether she went down the escelator and out into the mall, out the main door upstairs and out into the mall, out the parking lot door aauuuggghhh it was insane how freaked out I was. I was crying running through the store yelling MAGGIE MAGGIE MAGGIE. Kaitlyn was with me and she was crying too, I bet people thought we were crazy. Finally I saw her little feet in the mens suit department HIDING in a rack. As mad as I was I was more relieved to find her. Glad he was home safe and sound. We too have a sex offender in our neighborhood~right next to Katies best friends house! I HATE THAT!
WHEW!!
I am so glad he's okay! I'm sure Jer will remember finding Chad when he was about 3. We were in some mall in Vegas in the food court and he decided he wanted to go see the fountain, I think. Totla panic! Thank goodness we have alot of family to keep eyes out for each other!
Oh yeah, Bradley is just taking after Tyler. It was when Tyler was in Kindergarten and he walked all by himself. At least I didn't know until he came home and told me very proudly that he walked home! Then there was Dustin that thought it was fun to hide in the clothes rack when we were at the mall. I felt the panic then! Kids!!
I do remember finding Chad at the mall, we just happened upon him, not even knowing he missing in action, and I was all like "hey I know those blond curls" but he was all by himself~So I picked him up an headed to the food court right about the time Lisa came zipping around the corner white as a ghost looking for him. GOOD TIMES!!!!
We've sooooo been there, and that sick panic feeling is not something you'd want anyone to have to feel! We lost Sydney at the San Genarro Feast one year which is just about one of THE most scary places to lose a kid, with all of those nasty dirty carnies around... And then I had my wonderfully sweet brother-in-law silently sneak my cart around the corner of the aisle I was on WITH SYDNEY IN THE CART when she was a year old. I turned & she was gone. I screamed & darted around the corner to see him casually walking down the next aisle with Syd. Not such a funny joke. At all. At least his wife told me later that he felt really really bad when I came around the corner & he saw the panic on my face.
That has is just the worst feeling in the world. Christie and a little neighbor girl wandered off when she was 3 and we had just moved into a new house. They were missing for a couple of hours and it was so horrible. And the twins disappeared in a store once. The hiding in the clothes racks must be fun for all kids (and not so fun for the moms).
yes I didnt know you had a bloggy thing.. I think I like myspace better but we have friends on both so why not have both. Yes Im so excited for the little guy to come.. Im pretty sure his name is going to be Peyton Aaron Evans! but it changes weekly. Hope you guys are doing good have a good christmas!
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