The Longest 2 Minutes of My LIfe

Last week I was running some errands with Mary Ellen (my mother-in-law).  David was at preschool, so Briggy got some great alone time with us--I'm sure he appreciated it.  First he was strapped in the car seat while we ran around town, then strapped in the cart while we went shopping.  By the time I was loading Mary Ellen's groceries onto the conveyor belt, he had had ENOUGH.  I had compassion on him and let him down and showed him some of the toys in the checkout area so he could entertain himself long enough for me to load the groceries.  As I was loading groceries I heard him giggle.  I looked over and he wasn't there.  I ran to the next aisle over--sure he was just running away for the thrill of the chase.  Not there.  Then I went in the other direction.  Not there either.  My heart dropped.  My first instinct was to go to the door.  We weren't far away from the store entrance and he easily could have made it outside (either on his own or with the help of a stranger).  The employee there said she didn't notice any little kids but that she had just been occupied with another customer so I should check in my car.  Good idea, but he's 19 months old!!!  If he was in the parking lot, it would be with a stranger or in the midst of cars.  My heart was racing at this point.  I ran to the customer service desk where there was a line of 6 or 7 people.  I ran to the front, interrupted the woman that was speaking, told them he was missing, gave them a description then ran away to keep looking.  Then I heard the "Code Adam" alert and that's when the tears started.  Any mother who has experienced this knows what I am talking about.  Hearing the description of your own child over the intercom tends to invoke a less than warm fuzzy feeling.  I kept thinking, "You have to stay calm" and I really tried.  I took a deep breath, then said a quick prayer that was something like, "I cannot lose my baby.  Please help him be found and safe."  Just a couple of moments later, an employee waved her arm and signaled for me to come over.  A kind woman had him in her arms, trying to comfort him.  I sprinted toward him, grabbed him out of her arms and sobbed as I kissed him over and over again and stroked his head and held him close.  I didn't even say "thank you".  I can only hope that she is a mother and understood how incredibly grateful I was.  He was found a considerable distance from where we were checking out.  I honestly couldn't have had my back to him for more than 10 seconds (and Mary Ellen was with me too).  We were both talking to him as he played and as we were loading groceries, so he disappeared in a hurry, then must have gone farther away as the search went on.  Lesson learned.  When it comes to the safety of our children, we can never be too careful (well, maybe we can...having teenagers on a harness might be going a little extreme, but we must be vigilant).  So grateful to have this little guy in my life.