Quite a scare

So we had quite a big scare last weekend. We were visiting with my BFF Jackie who was up here in IL to visit her sister.  We had decided to head over to Rhonda's and all of us would then go to Oaktoberfest and let the kids shine at the zucchini races. We were having a great time, racing zucchini cars that the kids made, singing a little Karaoke, and just hanging out. After awhile we headed towards the stage and food area to get some lunch, Jeff was up ahead with the kid and Jackie and I were hanging back trying to catch up on about 5 years of life.  Jeff took the kids to the bathroom and I went and sat down at a table to save enough space for all of us...I assumed all the boys were with him.  Poor assumption on my part.

Jeff came back from the bathroom and says, "Where is Jonathon?" So I explained that I thought he was with Jeff and Jeff tells me that "No", Jonathon hadn't been with him.  So all of a sudden my emotions flare up, my heart starts beating super fast and we all head out in search of my 7yo.  I was truly praying the whole time, trying not to freak out and watching for his light blue sweatshirt.  Thom was on the other side of the street looking for him as well...we headed back to where we had been racing the zucchini cars, and there is my poor, sweet little man sitting on the curb, with his hands in his pockets and tears streaming down his face.  I was heartbroken.

The short of it is that when we all decided to leave, Jonathon had been immersed in looking for spare change on the ground and didn't see us walk away.  When he got up from the ground, we were all gone.  I praised him for staying in that spot, knowing that if he tried looking for us, he would most likely never have found us.  He said that while he was lost, he found a penny and threw it into the fountain and wished "that he would see us again". 

I hugged him often throughout the remainder of the day.  I praise God that we found him, that no one stopped to talk to him, and that he stayed right where he had been.  This was one of my top scariest moments as a mom...I pray it never happens again, and while we used it as a teachable moment, it's not something that I will soon forget.