Friday the 13th

Last Friday is one I will never forget. Our upstairs air conditioner has been on the fritz & needed replacement so we had a repair man at our house. We just replaced our downstairs unit last summer so we were less than thrilled to be replacing the upstairs now. Darren & I had talked several times throughout the day about the A/C guy’s assessment & what this news was going to cost us.
He called me at work just after 3pm with what I assumed was another update. Instead he was calling to report that Landon had been playing in the backyard while he was talking to the A/C guy & he had just gone outside to find the backyard gate had blown open. Landon & our 13 year old Labrador Casey were gone & he couldn’t find them. He’d checked our neighbors’ yards & torn the house apart to make sure Landon wasn’t hiding & now he, the A/C guy & our neighbor were driving around separately looking for them.
I’m sure any parent can understand the heart clinching panic I immediately felt. I rushed out of work in a state of near hysteria. As I fought Friday afternoon traffic to get home I called everyone I knew on our street & asked them to help in the search. I was immediately worried, but thought for sure he’d find them in a couple of minutes. I mean a 3 year old & very senior dog couldn’t get too far, right? As my 15 minute drive home passed with no news that they’d been found I could barely breathe, much less pay attention to my driving. It felt like hours.
Just as I was about to turn into our neighborhood I got the call from Darren that he found them at the opposite end of our street. I drove straight over there to see Landon wearing a lion mask & happily playing in the front yard with two other little boys. I jumped out of the car sobbing & gave him an almost bone-crushing hug to which he replied “Mommy, what’s wrong with you?” As I tried to get my emotions under control I noticed the shorts he was wearing weren’t his & he had no shoes on. Apparently not only had my 3 year old been roaming the neighborhood…he’d been doing it in nothing but a t-shirt & Cars underwear! He & the dog had crossed the road in front of our house & made their way down the sidewalk all the way to the end of our street before a good Samaritan mowing his lawn caught sight of him & called his wife out. They have two boys themselves so she hurried over to convince Landon to come inside for a drink (and some shorts). Poor Casey was pretty worn out by the ordeal. At 13 years old that’s a very far walk for her. They put her in their backyard, gave her some water & called the police to report they’d found a child.
As Darren & the search party were driving up & down our street Landon was inside their house enjoying a juice box. When he pulled back up to the house he saw just the hint of Landon’s bright green t-shirt in the distance because they’d come back outside. Landon never seemed upset or lost…he was just trying to convince Casey to come back home & I’m sure had no idea how far he’d gotten. We thanked the couple profusely although no words are adequate to thank someone for keeping your child safe. I couldn’t wait to get Landon home for more hugs (and of course a lecture about how he should tell mommy or daddy if the dog ever gets out instead of trying to bring her back himself).
Landon plays in the backyard almost every day so this was a big lesson for us in how easily something like this can happen. We’re sure there was a guardian angel walking along with Landon & Casey who kept them safe & we’re ever-so-thankful that it turned out ok. Friday the 13th will be a lucky day for us from now on!