Be careful what you post...

So I will never again complain on my blog about being bored. Here's why:

About a 1/2 hour after I posted the last post, TT disappeared. KK was going to do vision therapy homework with him and some of the neighborhood boys said they would corral him (he was at the bottom of what the kids call "Dead Man's Hill"). A few minutes later, one of the kids came racing back and said, "We lost him, he's up by Wash (the middle school about 1/2 mile away)." I got in the car and thought I'd spot him right away. No such luck. My heart began to skip its beats, my anxiety began to grow.

I called C and asked him to help me look (he was just getting off work). I decided to call the police because there I was, combing a 2 or 3 mile radius without any sighting of TT. The dispatcher was great. Then she asked me to go home to meet with the police. I couldn't for the life of me remember what color shirt he was wearing. At least I remembered the pants and guessed that he didn't have shoes on (anyone who knows TT could've guessed that though). I went home, printed off pictures of TT from the first day of school, and had a flash of..."What if this is the last picture anyone ever takes of him? What if...this...what if...that...??? Why can't I remember what shirt he was wearing?!?" I had to change gears before I went nuts or broke down.

The police showed up. Nice young guys. Two cars. I gave them the pictures. They asked me where he went to school, why he fled, where his neighborhood friends lived and if I'd called their homes, etc, etc. I felt like screaming, "JUST GO FIND MY BABY!!!" They asked me to stay put at home. CH scootered over to a nearby friends to look for TT. I sat on the front step and pulled burs out of TTs clothes from this morning's walk in the woods. When I wasn't doing that, I was pacing aimlessly.

It seemed like an eternity and it seemed like I wasn't doing anything to help find TT. I felt pretty rotten and pretty helpless. A few minutes later (although it felt like forever), one of the police cars returned and told me the other officer had just found TT at his school.

A few minutes later, he drove up. TT thought the whole ride in a police car thing was fun. Never done that before. And hopefully never again... Everyone watched when I went up to TT. I guess I'd say it was similar to the airport scene from Jerry Maguire...kind of. I really don't want to relive the words. What a bundle of emotions tied into such a short period of time. It was bad enough to experience it the first time. I asked TT to go inside and he did so willingly.

CH drove up and we all went inside. The police stayed outside our house for a long time - I'm not sure if they were doing that on purpose to make sure we weren't going to go ballistic on TT or what. It seemed kind of weird...especially because the entire neighborhood is empty tonight and it was just us and the officers. I guess when you don't know the family and the situation, it's better to make sure all is well for the kid's sake afterward. Kind of sad, but true.

TT has noticed we're all so drained and concerned and he's playing it pretty cool. He says he's sorry but the idea of having his bike taken away for a week doesn't seem to be phasing him. Perhaps it will hit home next week when he wants to use his bike and we say no.

The city's finest definitely earned a gold star tonight. I hope the rest of their night is a piece of cake.