So Scary

This afternoon I had the biggest scare of my life.

I have been trying to tackle my ever-growing list of things to do before finals begin.

We were watching a friend's child for a little while this afternoon and then we had about 10 minutes before picking up Brie.

Ella decided that she was going to take extra time getting her coat, shoes etc. so we ended up being a little late getting to the elementary school.

It really was only about 1-2 minutes late.

But, oh what a difference those 120 seconds can make.

We got to the school and saw many cars driving away already.

No Brie in sight.

She is usually a prompt girl, but we patiently waited for her to come around the side of the school. (Her classroom entrance is on the opposite side of where we pick her up)

Still no Brie.

I saw my lovely friend, who is also a wonderful teacher, as she was supervising the schoolyard. She must have sensed the growing panic in my voice/eyes as she told me that she saw Brie a few minutes earlier.

A few other passers-by also commented that they too saw her a few minutes ago.

But still no Brie in sight.

I literally picked up Ella as I held her to my hip like a baby and RAN to the van to begin searching for her!

I have never been so scared as I was frantically driving and scanning the sidewalks.

My plea to God has never been more heartfelt.

We fortunately found Brie about 4 blocks away, running as fast as she could on her way home.

She was scared too.

There were tears and embraces.

And MANY sighs of relief.

I am SOOOOOOO thankful that she was fine.

But she crossed 3 streets by herself. I asked her if she remembered to look both ways before crossing.

Nope. Didn't remember.

Thank you God for watching over her today.

Thank you for caring teachers who were beginning to drive around town looking for her too.

Thank you for the happy ending.

Please let this never ever happen again.