On Thursday I received a call from a close friend. Two of her kids, ages 4 and 5, were missing... and had been for a few hours. I got ready and headed over to join the search that had begun over an hour ago. Leigha and I combed the streets, going everywhere we could imagine them having gone to, asking every person we saw along the way... "Have you seen two little kids with bright red hair today?????" She called everyone she could think of; I called every business within walking distance; friends and family continued the search on foot, bike and in cars; the police utilized their resources; child protective services were alerted, as was the local shelter that they would probably be brought to if found somewhere.
It was like 5,782 degrees with 100% humidity, so Leigha and I would cool off at her house for a little bit, and try to convince each other (and ourselves) of the various possible reasons why no one could find them- reasons that would involve them walking through the door, safe and happy, any minute...
They didn't walk through the door. I'd get antsy, so I would make another sweep through the projects, asking all the kids out there if they have seen D & V.
"We haven't seen them at all today."I would go back to the house to cool off and try to calm down, thinking the whole way back that maybe they would be there when I got back. They weren't there. After a few minutes I'd get up and do the same thing again. This went on for hours. Nothing.
"We saw them over at Cockroach [what everyone calls the park nearby] earlier today."
"We saw them over in that cluster a couple minutes ago."
I get all excited- "Really?!? Just a few minutes ago???"
"Yeah. Or maybe it was this morning... or yesterday..."
Then we heard that some kids had seen them walking down to the grocery store (which is 1.5 miles away) with some other kids. I called the grocery store again- nothing. Then we heard they had gone to the Mall (...of America- you know, that GIANT mall we have in Minnesota) with some other kids. It's past dinner time, and I knew for a fact that D & V would be hungry and tired and probably crying and wanting to come home at this point... and the Mall of America is the #1 place that sex trafficking transactions take place in MN... and I'm starting to really freak out- the number of viable possibilities that included them safely walking through the door any minute were dwindling by the second.
So we go with the MOA thing, but all of our sources are kids under the age of 12... Then Leigha's oldest daughter- who is 9, and has been out searching with her friend, pushing her 2-year-old sister in the stroller- yells to me, "Dawn! I know where they are!" She tells me that they are at that shelter- she just talked to two of the other boys that were with them (ages 8 and 10). I ask if there is an adult that can confirm any of this information, so she brings me to the boys' house and I talk to their mom. She had just gotten back from picking the boys up after receiving a call from the police that the kids were caught stealing at the Mall of America.
I respond, "Well where are D & V?!?!?"The constant chorus running through my head from this point on is "What the fuck?!? Why has NO ONE contacted Leigha about her children yet???" And no one ever did contact her...
"They are still there. They couldn't remember their mom's phone number."
After another hour or so of phone calls, being put on hold, talking to rude and unhelpful people, Leigha finally finds out that the kids are indeed at the shelter and are okay.
Now there is lots more to the story, (including not being able to pick up D & V for days, but then actually getting to pick them up the next afternoon) but this condensed version has already become really long. So I'm going to jump to a couple things I'm grateful for in light of this whole situation...
(I'm really good at transitions, in case you hadn't noticed!)
- An amazing friend with amazing kids (albeit incredibly difficult children who make far more bad choices than good ones- i.e. taking the light rail down to the Mall of America with a few other kids, without telling their mom or any adult, and then stealing [which I'm actually grateful for since it is what got them caught and therefore found]) who have shown me tremendous love and generosity and support the last 3 years.
- Being reminded of how deeply I love every person in that family- no matter how angry, frustrated, sad or confused I get because of choices that they make over and over again.
- God showing me clearly how to love them and giving me the ability to do so... which involved some difficult conversations, a myriad of emotions, and a lot of just being present with them.
- D & V are safe and at home with their sisters and mother.
- I have friends who I can text and ask them to pray with us and for us in the midst of everything- and they do pray, and express their concern, and show love to this family that they know I love even though they've never met them.
- The mercy, faithfulness and sovereignty of our ridiculously loving God.
- Having to cut this list off even though there is so much more... meaning, I have become more grateful...
The next installment of "56 crazy hours" is coming soon... full of more craziness and more gratitude...
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