Memorial Day Weekend: The Story of the Lost Boy

 Jace, Jake, and Walker

 My parents and their grands

 My sis, Amy, Jace, Gracie, and Courtney

 My family :)

 The Lifeguards who assisted us in our search

 Jake was saying, "Come to Papa, waves!" Hahaha!

 Cheers!

This beach trip will be one that I never forget.  I wish I could forget it, but I can't.  You see, it all started on our first day on the beach.  We got there around 10:30 and the beach was already crowded.  We found a spot for our tent and set it up; unfortunately, we had to set up the tent a little ways back from the water.  There were about 6 chairs of people blocking our view, but the water was pretty chilly, so the kids mainly hung back with us and played in the sand.  Once the kids had a castle built, they were trying to fill the holes with water, so they each took turns running back and forth to the water to fill up their buckets.  We're not parents who don't watch their kids, I promise, but Tyson asked my sister a question and I turned to look at her to see what her answer was.  In the meantime, I lost site of Walker.  It was literally a few seconds...and he was gone.

I asked "where's Walker?" and Tyson and Amy jumped up to look for him.  I was thinking he probably got a little side tracked and forgot his way to our tent, but I thought he'd be close enough we could call him back.  He was no where in site.  I immediately jumped up and went left while Amy went right and Tyson ran for the water. 

The part of the beach where we were isn't a lifeguard protected area, so I found the closest thing I could for getting help- an umbrella/sailboat rental station.  I gave the description of what Walker was wearing and they radioed it in to the police and a few minutes later, a policeman arrived via 4 wheeler to start the search.  Meanwhile, I wasn't waiting around and kept going down the beach screaming Walker's name.  I was relatively calm for the first 3 minutes or so, but then panic mode set in.  I'm sure I looked a crazy pregnant mess bawling my eyes out and screaming my kid's name, but I obviously didn't care.  It definitely got the attention of several beach-goers when they realized the seriousness of it and jumped in to help me search.  One lady stopped me and told that she had seen a little boy matching Walker's description running down the beach, so I just kept going.

About 10 minutes or so had passed, and out of no where, Amy and Tyson appeared behind me saying a lifeguard had radioed in that she had Walker.  He was almost a quarter of a mile down the beach from our tent.  A grandmother had seen Walker running and crying and recognized that he was lost and took him to the lifeguard...thank the Lord!  I can't tell y'all how good it felt to have him back in my arms.  It was by far the scariest moment in my life and I hope I never go through it again.

I obviously don't like re-hashing this story since it gives me the chills every time and makes me feel like the worst mother ever, but I hope other people will learn a lesson from this.  Walker knows my cell phone number if he ever got lost, but clearly he wasn't thinking and I didn't have my phone on me on the beach.  All I've ever told him was "if you get lost, find a police man...yada yada yada"...so what if you're on the beach and there are no policemen in sight?  Tell your children to find a mother with children and tell them you're lost.  Also, at the beach, draw lines in the sand as boundaries for your children (per the lifeguard) or for Walker's case, draw a line back to your chairs so your children can find their way. Create a buddy system at the beach- Tyson was assigned to one child while I was assigned to the other.  And it truly only takes a second when you look away.  :( Anyways, those are some important lessons I learned and I hope they can help others.  We were very, very lucky.