A Parent's Worst Nightmare: Part 2

Troy and I went to the grocery store today to buy a few items. While I was checking out, he was doing his usual wandering around the area, checking out and touching everything in sight. I didn’t think anything of it, since he never strays very far. But when I got done at the register and turned around, he was gone.

My first instinct was to freak out that he’d been kidnapped. After all, my wife has done an excellent job of drilling into our heads about all of the cases of child extrication around the world. But then, I took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. If I was Troy, where would I go? I let my eyes rove over the food court, the balcony, the self-soup area, the registers, and the magazine end caps. There was no sign of a blonde curly-head sticking up anywhere. I stood still, waiting for a moment, in case he came back to the area. I wanted him to be able to find me. As my eyes once again swept the area, a flash of red caught my eye outside the window. I glanced back and saw Troy on the other end of the store walking across the parking lot outside with another man. I took off running through the store as fast as my legs could carry me. I made it to Troy just as they arrived at the man’s car. Troy looked confused and scared, and as soon as his eyes saw me, he burst into tears.

The man told me that apparently Troy had mistaken the man for me and had followed him out of the store. When the man realized that Troy was lost, he told Troy that he’d wait with him until I showed up, which ended up being about five seconds. Inexplicably, the man was parked right next to my car, so at least I would have found them eventually, I guess. I thanked the man and then grabbed Troy in my arms, while he cried and slobbered on my shoulder. I held him like that for several minutes, rubbing his back and reassuring him, until he finally stopped crying. Through his last sniffles, Troy said, “Dada, I was afraid that I was going to have to go live with that strange man. But I didn’t want to go live with him. I want to live with you. I’m glad that you came for me. I love you, dada.” I told him that I loved him too, and that I’d always come for him.

I’m just thankful that he was okay, and that I got to him in time. I don’t truly think that man would have hurt Troy or that he wanted to do something nefarious. But I’m still grateful that the Lord kept Troy safe. Maybe that man wasn’t who I thought he was. Maybe he was really an angel in disguise sent to watch over Troy. Who knows? I do know that I’ll never get used to the sinking feeling in my heart whenever Troy suddenly disappears on me. It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.