Two minutes later I come out to my oldest daughter telling me in a panic, “Ilyas is missing. I don’t know where he is!!!”
I threw my water bottle in the grass and took off running at full speed down the sidewalk desperately trying to catch sight of my 3 year old son. I made it around the corner on the street behind us but still absolutely no sight of him - I was screaming his name over and over. I immediately called 911 on my cell phone because at that point I was dreading the worst - he had been kidnapped.
My daughters came following me on their scooter and bike - I told them to ride as fast as they could around the block to go look for him. I turned around and ran in the other direction again. At this point I was seriously panicking and I was outraged that I couldn’t get a 911 operator when I called - after 2 minutes I was still on hold! 2 minutes feels like eternity when your child is no where to be seen!
Finally, a minute later, I caught sight of my little man riding his bike down the street in the direction of our house... PHEW! I hung up the phone (still never getting an operator). I was flooded with relief and anger - I was angry with myself because I really should have known better than to leave them waiting for me - especially knowing my son has wandered off a few times before since he was 6 months old.
Five minutes later a 911 operator calls me back - it took a few minutes for her to understand me because I was so incredibly out of breath and I was talking soo loud, I assured them everything was okay and my son was safe and sound. Praise God (Allah)!
No need for the "Worst Mother of the Year 2012" award - I already feel incredibly terrible!
as Salamu alaykum Serena,
ReplyDeletePoor you !!! I know EXACTLY how you feel, Khalil when he was about 3-4 years old once wandered off inside masjid abu bakr up the stairs (which I didn't know) I was panicking calling his name running from class room to class room just to find all of them empty and to top it all a teacher came after me telling me that it was a mosque and that I couldn't loudly call my son's name?! excuse me HE IS MISSING ALREADY FOR SEVERAL MINUTES !!!! so what upsets me in your story is not you at all, for it happens to the best of us (like us Serena *grin*) but waiting over 2 minutes for 911 ???? that's really scary !! someone could die in 2 minutes.. aahh well, it was all ment to come out good and thank God you're all safe and sound !!
have a blessed and calm day
Myriam
It's the most unnerving emotion in the world when you realize your child is missing and you can't see/hear him/her anywhere!
DeleteWhat I didn't mention was how there were at least 4 people outside (an older couple on a daily walk, a college student and a worker) - and not one person came to ask me if I needed help or what was wrong. If I saw a lady screaming a name and looking absolutely panicked I would absolutely see what was wrong and how I could help!
So, the oblivious people and 911 really upset me after the fact.
I think something similar happened to me at Abu Bakr once - Aaliyah wasn't missing but she was about to go down the stairs and I yelled for her to stop and some lady came out and started trying to lecture me on how there was school going on (it was the Saturday school, not the regular school). I was so annoyed with her - I ended up giving her back the same attitude she gave me. I rarely ever take attitude from people!
I thank Allah he was spared (time and time again) from something terrible happening!