A Lost Child

As I was walking into church yesterday afternoon - a child walked up the sidewalk. The boy was about 3 years old. I waited a minute for mom or dad or nanny to appear around the corner. And the child continued to walk.

The boy was walking in the direction of El Camino Real. El Camino is the main local road connecting San Francisco and San Jose. It's heavily travelled. When I first saw the boy - he was happily walking toward it, maybe 70 yards away.

I continued to watch until he was about 30 yards short of El Camino. He was about to hit our parking lot. There was still no mom, dad or caregiver.

And so I ran.

"Hey, little boy, come here!"

I caught him 10 yards from El Camino running behind cars in our parking lot.

"Hey, is there an adult with you?"

He pointed back from where he'd come. And just as I was about to walk him in that direction a mailman stepped out of his truck.

"I just saw a lady looking for her lost child."

So we ran in that direction. The mailman was yelling "Hey. Hey. He's here. He's here."

The boy running after him. And me following in the back.

The mailman turns into a garage - still yelling, "Hey. Hey. Hey's here. He's here."

A woman comes out. Sees the boy and starts crying as she scoops him up. Tells him that she loves him. And yells at him for walking off.

I think a few things.

1. Just like the little boy - we wander off and don't realize how much danger we are in.
2. I suspect he will run off again. I would if the person who loves me so much also screamed at me.
3. Sometimes the right thing to do is just embrace the prodigal. That's what I think mom should have done, but didn't. But who am I to judge. I've never walked in her shoes.
4. I am just glad that the mailman showed up. If not - I would have been down at the police station with a 3 year old reporting a missing mom.

#truestory