The importance of Family

Hi, its been a while since I have written on here, I have been mega busy.  Today however, being Sunday, was a day to spend with my family.  The weather this month has been very changeable, and so now that the past few days have been filled with Sunshine and happiness, we thought we would make the most of the warmer weather and take a trip to the seaside.



We loaded up the car with a change of clothes, and off we went.  The beach was packed.  Literally packed.  There were people everywhere!  Now, as a mother, the most important thing is to keep your children safe.  So we had loaded them with sun cream (forgot the hats but thats ok) and we were being extra cautious when they were anywhere near the water.  As is nice to do at the seaside, we had some chips, and candy floss, and we dipped out toes into the sea.  We tossed a few stones, to see which ones would make the biggest 'Splash'.

So far, so good!

We had walked along the beach, eaten our chips, spent our money, and were heading back along the beach to the car.  Jacob was always a few steps ahead of us and we kept a close eye on him.  Michael was walking along happily with us and all was well.  Just as we were thinking that this was a pleasant day out, BOOM!!

Michael had gone around the side of Mozzarella Joe's, on the beach.  We had let him do this as one of us was a step or three behind him.  I had hold of Jacob, and Sue went to walk behind Michael.  He had been out of our sight for literally no more than 25 seconds.  I walked along on the pavement, expecting to see Sue and Michael emerge from the other side.  Except they didn't.  Sue came out the other side, but no Michael.  She had assumed he was with me.  I had assumed he was with her.  Somehow, in the split seconds between her leaving us on the pavement to run after him, and her reaching the end of the wall, he had vanished.

Ok, I thought, this is ok, he will be waiting round the corner to catch us up.  But no, he was nowhere to be seen.  There were people everywhere.  I ran back to the other side of the restaurant, but he was not there.  I ran back to the Hovercraft, but he was not there.  Shouting his name all the time.  Nowhere.  I checked the shoreline, nowhere.  I asked in the restaurant, nowhere.

Absolute panic had by now set in.  Sue had hold of Jacob now, and I just didnt know where to turn.  Where was my little boy?  How could he have just disappeared.  I scanned the water for a body, for a person, I looked for his clothes, thinking he may have taken his T Shirt off to have a swim or something.  I just didnt know what to do.  By this point, Michael had been missing for about 15 minutes.  Had someone taken him away?

A young couple were on the beach, sunbathing.  Earlier they had asked me if I had lost my little boy.  They had said they would keep an eye out.  The lady of the couple had somehow found a policeman.  All of a sudden, and in a whirlwind of emotions, I found myself telling a police officer what Michael was wearing, what he looked like, when I had last seen him, and him then talking into his radio "All units to attend" "Boy, Michael, aged 5, Missing".  I have no words, as a mother, to explain what you feel when you hear that about your own child.  I asked the policeman what I would do if Michael had been taken.  He said "We will deal with that when we have to".  Oh God, find him!

The lady who had asked me about him then went along the beach with Sue.  There were police men and women arriving in a car, and a van.  I didn't know what to do.  I stayed with the police officer, and waited for my Mum to arrive (I had called her to get her to come and collect Jacob).

After what seemed like years, (it was about 45 mins) the call came across the radio "D Day Museum Car Park, yes, we've got him, yes he is ok".  Relief, but what if it wasn't him!! I went with the police man to see him.  I rang Sue to tell her they had found him.  Then I saw my little boy again.  Tears of relief, and happiness.  The police man was great.  The lady who helped look for him was great.  I have never been so pleased to see him, and never had such a wonderful hug.

What I have learnt from today is that family are precious, never take them for granted, always take the time for them.  Because in that split second where you may not see them again, they mean the whole world to you.  I will be taking more time for my family from now on.  My boys are my world and the thought of losing either one of them is just unbearable.

Special thanks must go to the calm police man, the lady who helped and the team of police who were called in to help find him.  If that lady, I don't even know her name, had not told the police man, the consequences don't bear thinking about.






Thanks for reading!
Well, thats my day.  Hope yours was ok.
Lucy.