I’ve had that kind of fear a few times. Once, when I got a call that my husband had been in an accident and was being taken to the hospital by ambulance. They wouldn’t tell me anything about his condition, so my imagination was on overdrive until I got to the hospital. I found him in the ER, and will never forget the sight of him surrounded by doctors and nurses, covered in blood, with that brace on his neck. One of the nurses immediately told me he was going to be fine, but it took a while before I started to believe her.
Another time, I “lost” my daughter at the farmer’s market. She was 9 at the time, and asked me if she could go buy the eggs while I stood in another line with my boys. I said yes, and off she went. A few minutes later, I went to the booth where we normally buy eggs and didn’t see her. The man at the booth said he hadn’t seen her and hadn’t sold any eggs to little girls. This was only a few feet from where I’d been standing in line. For about two minutes I frantically looked all over. Other people were trying to help too, and I was about to call the police. Then I saw her skipping happily toward me across the town green, eggs in hand. She’d gone to a booth on the other side of the market to get eggs. I was so relieved I was about to cry.
This past fall, I also “lost” my six year old son at a fair. I sound like such a bad mom! I ran into a friend, and when I stopped to say hi, my son hid behind me. He didn’t want to talk to the friend’s daughter, who has been saying she wants to marry him since they were three. He absolutely hates to be around this poor little girl. We chatted for 30 seconds, and when I turned around my son was gone. He wasn’t just hiding behind me, but had completely walked off. This fair is huge and very crowded. I had my daughter with me, and the two of us were in a panic trying to find him. Unlike the farmer’s market, which isn’t very big or crowded, a crying kid at the fair wouldn’t stand out so much. It took about five minutes to find him, but felt like an eternity. I finally spotted him not far from where he’d walked off, looking like he was about to cry. There was a man talking to him, saying, “What does your mom look like?” My son wouldn’t talk to him. He told me later, “I didn’t mean to lose you, but I really don’t want to marry Lexy! I did what you said though and stayed in one spot and wouldn’t talk to anyone or go anywhere with anyone.” He was partly right. I’ve told the kids it’s ok to talk to strangers for help but to never ever ever go anywhere with a stranger. Again, I was so relieved to find him. I have very strict rules about the kids running off in public places, so packed everyone up and went straight home. Still, that was so scary. The things that run through your mind are terrible. :(