Lost

     It was late summer or early fall in 1981 when my grandparents, my mom, my sister, my brother and I went to the Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw for shopping.  I was half way through my 4th year of life.  We spilt off into group and I happily went with my grandpa.  Teaming up with my grandpa was always a smart idea when you were a little.  He would often sneak you treats or buy you toys. 

     I remember my grandpa and I walking into the CVS pharmacy.  At that age everything I looked at seemed amazing.  He was checking out.  Behind him was a display of the newest hot wheel cars in a thick plastic case, with neat vertical rows that displayed the shiny, and most colorful design of cars I had ever seen  I was somewhat of a tomboy growing up.  I enjoyed playing with cars and wrestling.  Trying on clothes and wearing jewelry were for girly girls and I was not for it.  I called out to my grandpa to show him all the wonderful cars I wanted.  He turned and agreed they were neat.  That was not the reaction I was hoping for.  I wanted him to buy them for me. 

     "Grandpa, I want this one, " I would point to a particular car, "....and this one....and that one...Ooooh, I would like this one too."  Suddenly it seemed strangely silent for a moment, "Grandpa, are you paying attention to me?"  I turned around.  To my horror my grandpa was gone.  I stood there and looked around.  A bad feeling arose in me.  "Grandpa?"  I called out again.  Nothing. 

     I froze for a moment not knowing what to do.  Could he have went further back into the store for something he needed?  Did he leave the store and go somewhere else?  What do I do?  I looked at all the people entering and leaving the store.  I suddenly realized how big the mall is.  I couldn't just stand there all day. 

     I finally managed to take a step.  I decided to quickly go up and down every aisle to see if I could locate my grandpa.  I ran down each aisle calling out his name.  Nothing.  I made my way to the entrance of the store.  I looked out to the middle area of the mall.  Hundreds of people walked past and none of them looked familiar.  Slowly I made my way out to the middle of the mall.



The layout of the Fashion Square Mall where I was lost at.
In the 1980's Macy's was Hudson's and the food court wasn't there.
I sat in front of one of the box stores debating which store to enter.
 

     I could see the fountain flowing in the middle.  It made a wonderful sound.  I walked towards it.  There was a ledge that surrounded it.  I stood up on it and walked along the ledge being careful to keep my balance.  I sat back down on the ledge and splashed the cool water for a moment.  I was hoping my grandpa or someone would find me.  No one did.  I looked around again and decided I would have to go through every store and see if I can find my grandpa or anyone else from my family. 

The texture of the seats
reminded me of this snack.

     I made my way towards one of the ends of the mall.  In the middle of the aisles sporadically spaced out where brown bumpy circular seats with trees growing out of the middle of them.  The texture reminded me of  the Star Cruncher snack you would buy at the store.  I climbed myself up on the seat, stood up and looked around.  I thought to myself if I do into this store he might come out of the other store and not see me.  If I go into that store he might be in the other store and still not see.  I didn't know which store to enter.  I was lost.  My stomach was all twisted up in knots.  All these people and I didn't know who to ask for help and none of them seemed to be my family.  It seemed as if time stood still.  In front of me was a big box store.  On the left and right side of the entrance of the box store were two other smaller stores.  Neither seemed appealing to go in to.  I tried to imagine which one my grandpa would be in, if he was in any of them at all. 

     "JILL!"  I heard someone yell.  I turn around in time to see my older sister grab my arm.  "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!   WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!"  she didn't see pleased.  Behind her was a policeman.  Suddenly I felt as if I had done something wrong. 

     The office talked with me.  I don't remember what he said but I remember feeling scared.  We had to follow him somewhere.  I tried to hid behind my sister so I wouldn't be close to him.  He would walk just a step ahead of my sister.  Occasionally he would walk just to the left of my sister.  I would scurry to the right of her.  He would casually walk to the right of her.  I would quickly move to the left of my sister. His steps seemed hard and quick.   I was starting to think I was better off being lost.

     We finally arrived to the destination to the middle of the mall's information center.  I thought I was going to be arrested and sent to jail.  There my mom, grandparents and brother were waiting for me.  Their looks of concerned quickly turned to anger as they thought I just waltzed off on my own.  My mom thanked the officer and she quickly ushered me off to the bathroom for a prompt spanking.  I probably wished at that moment that the policeman did arrest me and sent me off to jail. 

     I didn't understand why I was getting spanked.  I never moved from where I was at.  It was grandpa who moved away from me!  I was only trying to find them and here it felt as if I was in trouble. 

     It wasn't until years later and talking about this story with my mom that I learned at the time of my disappearance another story of a boy who was lost in the mall was making headlines in the news.  Adam Walsh.  A 6 year old boy who was kidnapped out of a mall in Florida and later on someone found his head in a pond.  At the time the kidnapper was unknown.  The media put fear into the minds of parents all across the country.   Now being a parent myself I could understand the fear my mother could have felt that day, especially since the story of Adam Walsh. 

     From what happened to Adam Walsh came about the "Code Adam" that most stores use today in case a child goes missing.  Their protocol goes as follows: 

1. If a visitor reports a child is missing, a detailed description of the child and what he or she is wearing is obtained. Additionally, all exterior access to the building is locked and monitored; anyone approaching a door is turned away.
2. The employee goes to the nearest in-house telephone and pages Code Adam, describing the child’s physical features and clothing. As designated employees monitor front entrances, other employees begin looking for the child.
3. If the child is not found within 10 minutes, law enforcement is called.
4. If the child is found and appears to have been lost and unharmed, the child is reunited with the searching family member.
5. If the child is found accompanied by someone other than a parent or legal guardian, reasonable efforts to delay their departure will be used without putting the child, staff, or visitors at risk. Law enforcement will be notified and given details about the person accompanying the child.
6. The Code Adam page will be canceled after the child is found or law enforcement arrives

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Adam

 

 

     



Oh, Those Rodents!

     It was February 2004.  We lived in Allegan.  Our children just received money for Valentine's Day and wanted to go shopping.  I told the kids (aged almost 7, almost 6, 3 years old and 1 year old) they can buy what ever they want with their money at the store.  I loaded up the children and headed towards Meijer's in Planwell, Mi..  We walked around the toy aisle as the children debated on what to get.  As the older children looked I would see what toy James (the one year old) would like to have as well.  Nothing seemed to grab my or the kids attention. 

     We walked around the store for other ideas.  Then we walked past the small animal area.  It was like magnetic beams shot out of their eyes and dragged them across the aisle to look at the birds, hamsters, guinea pigs, and the multitudes of fish.  Oh no!  I dreaded.  The older two looked at the prices and the money they had in their hands.  They didn't have enough.  Whew!

     Moments later Christian and Beth approach me with a smile across their faces.  "We know what we want,"  they said, "We want to buy a hampster!"

     "Oh no!"  I reply back.  "You don't have enough money."

     "Yes we do, "  Beth chimes back, "If we all put our money together then we have enough to buy 2 hampsters"  she says excitedly.

    "No! No! No!"  I firmly said.  "We already have a dog.  We do NOT need a hampster!"

     "PLEASE?????"  the 3 begged beautifully.  James would sit in the basket of the cart pointing over at the rodent's in the glass aquarium.  "You said we can have ANYTHING in the store?"

     Mental note to myself at that moment:  NEVER say the words ANYTHING IN THE STORE ever again to my children when we go shopping!   

     I looked down at their angelic faces.  I know deep down this novelty will wear off in a week and I would be the one cleaning the cage and feeding and watering it.  Drats!  The kids pinned me in the corner when I said that.  It was their money and I did say anything.  I think just the brillance of them realizing that they can combine their money to get a larger priced item at that age made me give in.  "Okay.  Beth and Christian, you both pick out one and Ashton, you pick one out for you and James."   I chipped in the rest for a cage, food and a ball where the hampster can run around the house in.  Sadisticly, I envisioned one of the hampsters running around in this plastic ball and our dog (about 5 years old) chasing it and trying to flick it around the house where the hampster was at the mercy of the dog.  Okay, I was ready to bring the hampsters home now.

     We brought the hampsters inside and I was giddy to see our dog's reaction.  He sniffed them a few times and left them alone.  I had the kids pick out their names.  Beth and Christian agreed on Pinky because a crazy cartoon Pinky and the Brain.  Ashton picked the name Lilo for her black and white hampster after the movie "Lilo and Stitch" which was a popular Disney movie at the time.  Sure enough, a few weeks later, the kids paid no mind to the hampsters anymore and I was left to tend to their cleaning and feeding.

     Fast forward 5 to 6 months.  We ended up moving to a small town in Osceola county (See Spontaneous Life Changing Decision April 18, 2012 blog  http://ymaout.blogspot.com/2012/04/spontaneous-life-changing-decision.html  on that story).

     It was a warm night.  The children were in bed fast alseep.  We were watching a movie in the living room relaxing.  I was on the couch and Brian was stretched out on the floor.  Suddenly Brian jerks back, "What the hell....?"

     I look over at him confused.

    "Something lifted up on that vent!"  The heater vent was right next to the TV.  We both stare at it for a moment.  Nothing happened.

     I sit up and Brian joins me on the couch and we resume watching the movie.  We both heard a sound coming from the vent.  A loud scratching sound.  We picked up the remote and hit the mute button.  We both stare at the vent and listen to the fumbling, scratching sounds.  The vent lifted up again and a head stuck out from the vent.  "A RAT!"  Brian shouts.

     "A rat?"  I wanted to make sure I heard him correctly.

     "We need to kill that rat!  We cannot have rats in this house!"  Brian commands.

     We quickly unloaded a medium size box to use as a trap.  We planned on waiting until the rat comes out, lay the box on its side for the rat to run into and then tilt the box upright to capture the rat and then killing it. 

     We watched the vent intently.  We were on a mission.  I stood off to one side so the rat would run in the other direction where Brian was holding the box waiting for the rat to run into.  The vent started to lift up and down.  We were curious as to why the rat could lift the vent but neither one of us wanted to get a closer look.  The vent was lifting higher.  We could see his head.  His head would stick out and then go back in.  I look up at Brian with delight.  We were going to catch us a rat!  His head popped back out again.  The rat decided to make a run for it and fully came out of the vent.  He ran for the box and our plan was set in motion.  Brian was able to scoop up the rat with the box and the rat was trapped.  "There wasn't a tail on the rat!"  I shout out.  "It's tailless!"

     "Sometimes rats will get their tails caught on something and they lose their tail.  It's quiet common."  He assured me. 

     Brian went to look for something to end this rat's life.  "I want to take a closer look."  I say to Brian.

     "Why?  They are nasty rodents that we must get rid of!" 

     "I never seen a rat in real life before.  I want to see it before we kill it."

     "Be my guest."  Brian says back motioning with his hand for me to go to the box. 

     I look at it.  Cute little thing.  I think to myself.  I take a closer look at his nose.  There was some fur that has been rubbed away at it.  "Honey, I don't think this is a rat."   

     "What makes you think that?"  Brian inquires.

     "His nose.  There is fur missing from his nose.  I think this is Pinkie."  Pinkie had a habit of gnawing at the wires of his cage so much that he rubbed away the fur from his nose.

     "There is only one way to make sure."  Brian walks over to the hampster cage in the other room and peeks in.  Pinkie was missing.  Brian goes back over to the box and looks at the rodent in the box very carefully.  "You are one lucky hampster!"  He picks up the hampster and places him back into his cage. 

     Sadly, a year later Pinkie's life came to an end.  His cagemate Lilo had already passed on earlier.  They are both buried outside next to a tree that the kids like to play on.  I don't think they kids think much about the hampsters but I have learned two lessons:  Be care of what you say and always look twice before killing something.  It could be a pet.