Emma

Early this morning I got a call from my sister Margaret. She had just endured one of parenting's darkest hours: a child disappearing.

Chad and Margaret have three children--Austin is 10, Emma almost 7, and Nolan is almost 4.
They are on their way from their home in Pennsylvania to visit Mom and Dad in Minnesota plus a few other relatives along the way, and had spent the night in a motel in Dubuque, Iowa.

They tucked everyone into bed last night, and this morning when they got up, Emma wasn't there.

Of course they ransacked the room looking for her, and checked the truck and everywhere else they could think of. Nothing.

They then notified the motel people and called the police. The motel was close to the freeway, adding to the chill of fear and awful possibilities. Various people were out looking all over for her, and meanwhile Margaret had to answer all the policeman's questions, "How big is she? What was she wearing?" that you never think you'll have to answer about your own child.

Somewhere in all this the motel's surveillance tapes were pulled and reviewed. They showed Emma opening their door and wandering out, looking a bit sleepy and out-of-it. And then they showed her wandering along the motel until she found a door that was unlocked, and going inside. Where she evidently crawled into bed and fell asleep, and there the policeman found her, and woke her up, and brought her back to her mom, who immediately burst into tears of course.

Emma doesn't remember any of this, so a few mysteries remain. She's not a sleepwalker or night wanderer by any stretch, so what was she thinking??

We're just all so very very thankful she's safe and all is well.

Quote of the Day:
"She probably had the best night's sleep of her life."
--the policeman