Wednesday, May 17, 2006

We lost Peter




Saying for the Day: God sends a Guardian Angel to watch over children.

My daughter-in-law Lori recently described in her blog a time when my grandson disappeared. It reminded me of a time when her husband, my son, Peter disappeared.

We were living in the new parsonage in Ewen when it happened. I was in the church which was next door to the parsonage when I got a frantic call from Betty. She had lost Peter.

I rushed home. She had been changing Pat’s diaper and Peter was playing in the living room. When she came back he was gone. All the doors to the outside were closed so she assumed he was hiding. But she couldn’t find him.

I joined the search but he just wasn’t there.

I went outside to look. It was raining. He was nowhere to be seen. Now I was in full panic. We lived only one block from the highway. I could see him walking out onto the road and getting hit by a truck. I listened for screaming.

Then a very slow moving car came along. The fellow rolled down his window and asked if we knew who this little kid belonged to. There he was , having a great time. He was dressed in just a diaper.

We thanked the fellow who had found him down by the highway. I always wondered what he thought of parents who left their almost undressed kid wander around in the rain.

We were so glad to see him. But now we had a problem. He could open the front door, a skill we didn’t know he had. We could no longer keep him in by closing and locking it since it unlocked when you turned the inside knob . You couldn’t watch both him and his brother at the same time. We didn’t have access to an alarm system like they have now but we really needed one.

Our solution ? We bought a music box that was attached to the door and played when it was opened. It worked well .

The only problem with it was that it played Ava Maria every time somebody entered the Lutheran parsonage. It was the only one we could find.

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10,100 spins without a prize. Starting tomorrow Old Hapless is giving up this space to "News from Pigeon Falls". Pigeon Falls has returned from the mysterious mist into which it vanished last fall. Tomorrow we will share again how Pigeon Falls got its name. This is for those of you who were not with us last year. Friday we will print the official Pigeon Falls song that is used at every Pigeon Falls Day celebration. After that we will begin with the up to date news of the little town where men hunt deer and women let them.
****

I transfered the blog explosion credits to Annette so that just leaves the jelly beans for Mimi and Kristi. Bettywent to Tops. Then we began putting out Pigeon Falls. We got about half the buildings in place when the rain came. I sure hope the son shines tomorrow. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

ha! I lost my daughter when she was about 3...she opened the door and was down at the swings...ha ha ha...very scarey feeling...

5:17 AM  
Blogger kristi said...

My 3 year old left the other day on his bicycle and went 2 doors down, following his brother. I was totally unaware I thought he was with the husband and the husband thought he was with me. It happens to everyone at somepoint.

5:30 AM  
Blogger Louisiana said...

oh my goodness that was so scary...how wonderful that the man returned Peter...oh so many people wouldn't...I love the picture of the Guardian Angels and agree, you all, specially Peter had the Angels working that day...

We have a pretty big mall up in Edmonton (Province's capital), the biggest in the country. My oldest son, or how we called him, Houdini, got lost there...He was just 4. It took mobs of people, my poor aching heart and lots of on the spot prayers to find the little turkey happily as can be playing...Now, the sad thing is that this happened twice. He was a bit older next time. That turkey would escape from anything..we had him on double kids 4 point restraint belts...and still managed to escape while i was looking at a rack of shirts...Trust me, one set of eyes were never enough...

6:31 AM  
Blogger plinna said...

Some may say Pete is still lost. I love that story and I have strong feelings when I hear Ava Maria. I even sing it sometimes. But good thing I don't have a urge to put on a diaper and go for a walk in the rain.


Pete

7:07 AM  
Blogger Catch said...

Yes Peter had a guardian angel...thank goodness. My daughter did that to me when she was 2....I was frantic, I ran outside and she was in the neighbors yard looking around..I installed a lock real high on the door so she couldnt reach it that day!
Cant wait for Pigeon Falls!

7:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, thank goodness the right person found him!

8:04 AM  
Blogger Lori's Minute said...

Well I cannot not imagine not having Pete in my life, like father like son! maybe I should put a bell on my kid like they do with cats.

8:11 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Scary, scary story!. I put wind chimes on all of my doors as soon as my kid was tall enough to reach the doorknobs. He never wandered off, even when I wanted him to. How old are they before they stop coming to the bathroom door, yelling, "Mom! Are you finished yet?"

10:06 AM  
Blogger Bella said...

An angel indeed! I can't imagine loosing my child. I think I would have a heart attack before finding her but then again, I can't say for sure because it hasn't happened to me yet. Knock on wood.....

3:31 PM  
Blogger Penelda said...

I hate that feeling when you can't find them. The scary thoughts you have racing through your head. I am glad that Peter was found. I wonder if you remember when you lost me. This might be harder question as it happened frequently when we went to Kmart and Shopko. I am thinking of a different time.

3:34 PM  
Blogger Gary said...

That must have been really scary. as far as i know I never disappeared when i was young. But maybe I just dont remember.

8:01 PM  

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