You know how we all have stories from our childhood that are retold?
Well, Katie has a "story."
I thought I'd post about it separately to keep the fair post upbeat and not as long.
We took the kids to the fair on Wednesday. Shannon, her mom and kids plus me/mom, my kids and my nephews. 8 kids 4 adults. That should be easy enough, right?
Late afternoon we were in the small child ride section of the fair waiting for the children to get on a ride. All the kids were grouped together ready to go. The ride opened up and the kids piled on. It was a little school bus up on a platform and we couldn't see inside well, but couldn't see Katie. I noticed the same time Shannon did and she asked, "Do you see Kaitlin?"
No.
We started yelling into the kids, "Andrew! Is Katie with you?"
"No."
"Isaiah! Is Kaitlin on the ride?"
"No."
We looked around the line and area in front of the ride ~ she wasn't there.
Fear just filled my heart. Shannon yelled at mom to stay there, she went one way, her mom another, and me another. I ran around all of the rides in the area looking for her.
Nothing.
Shannon ran back to the ponies where we had just been and to the sanitation station that she liked playing with...nothing.
After I couldn't find her in the area around where she should have been if she just wandered away I ran to find where someone would take a missing child. A lady took me to another booth and a man put me in a little car and drove me to the front of the fair. The whole time I felt like I was going to be sick. We lost Andrew in line at Disneyland, but it was Disneyland. I was worried then, but it was a different sort of place. All I could think was that a predator had targeted her...how could she have completely disappeared so quickly?
I called Shannon on her cell phone and left a message about where I was.
She called me back. I answered with,
"Did you find her?"
"No."
My heart sank.
I got to the lost child booth and found the lady in charge. I told her that I had a lost child and she smiled at me like I had just ordered a lemonade. She was probably trying to be comforting, but it felt so wrong. I filled out the paper with her name, age and a description.
Shannon called again.
I asked "Did you find her?"
"No."
I think I'm going to throw up. The more time that passes the more scared I become.
Shannon was at the police booth leaving a description....and then said, "How could we have lost her? There were 4 adults, the kids were RIGHT THERE." She later said she was thinking the same thing I was...someone must have taken her.
After we left, people who saw what had happened started to help search for Kaitlin.
A lady approached my mom and said, "Come and see this child."
Sure enough, there is Kaitlin sitting on a pony on a carousel crying because she couldn't get down.
We have no idea how she even got on the ride. I didn't think to look on the rides!
Just when I was about to call Dan and tell him what was going on, Shannon got back there, called me and told me that she had her. I started crying and running through the fair back to where they were, like a crazy person. Took Katie from Shannon, sat on the ground and sobbed.
She just sat with her head on my shoulder for a long time. I think she only understood that I was really sad and so she felt bad. One of the most terrifying moments of my life.
I still have no idea how it all happened. But I'm still giving the kids extra kisses in their sleep over it. So grateful for each of them.
