Most Mondays you can find me at a Girl Scout meeting, trying to fearlessly lead young girls in all things scouting with a smile on my face. If you've ever been a scout leader, you know how much planning goes into a meeting, but that's not the hard part. Running a meeting with a room full of little girls is the difficult part. Rewarding but difficult.
But crazy meetings aren't what I wanted to talk about; it just sets the scene for the real story. The one where I take off and leave a kid at the church. Yep, you read it right--I left a kid.
After loading up a bazillion things in the car, getting Lorelei from the babysitter, loading all the three of my girls in the car, and all the while making sure all the Girl Scouts are with the right parent, we were finally ready to go... And so was Caroline. Well, she had "to go" to the bathroom. I told her to go in the main church building since I had just locked the place where we met. One minute I was ready to drive over to the front doors of the church to wait on her, and the next, I was thinking about about getting home and getting dinner started, which usually sends my mind on auto-pilot. Instead of waiting... I took off; my mind was on getting home. In a span of two minutes, I'd forgotten about the sweet little girl in the bathroom.
About a third of the way home, a friend who just happened to stay at the church a little longer called me. Here's the conversation:
"Hey, Celeste."
"Hey!" I replied, oblivious that the back seat where Caroline sits was empty.
"Are you missing a kid?" Was the next thing out of her mouth.
At that moment, I looked in my rear-view mirror and to my horror, she wasn't there.
"I'm missing a kid?" Was my response, but my internal response was the following:
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm missing a kid!"
Or something like that.
I pretty much did a u-turn on Ranch Road 12, which would have made Starsky and Hutch jealous, and I bolted to the church.
Pulling up, I saw my friend's suburban and Caroline's little head in the back, and I immediately needed to get to the child I'd left behind and wrap her in my arms. My friend, who was my guardian angel at that moment in time, calmed me with her sweet voice and let me know that all was well. Thank God for good friends.
"Mom, where were you?" Caroline questioned as soon as I began driving home.
How do you answer that question? How do you tell one of your three children, whom you love more than life itself, that you forgot them? I was at a loss, and I just decided to do what God always tells us to do.
Tell the truth. Be honest. I did just that.
It wasn't easy to admit to my middle child that I'd messed up and to let her know that I made mistakes. I wanted her to know that I still loved her more than anything and wouldn't intentionally hurt her for any reason. It was amazing that this petite, eight-year old, who has wisdom beyond her years, told me that it was okay and that she was okay. I'm pretty sure she won't forget being left behind, but I'm also very sure that she still loves me and forgives me. I also learned the biggest lesson of all...
I will no longer leave from any place without taking roll.
My prayer for today: For those families who have really lost a child and are still looking or mourning their loss.
