Good people!

It was the 15th of August a few years ago. My son was about 8 years old. His favorite toy was the two wheeled scooter with which you can whiz past people in no time. It was a hot afternoon, and people were out in their front yards washing cars, mowing lawns, and carrying out weekend tasks. Children were playing. I had just washed my hair. Junior wanted to ride his scooter outside. I asked dad to keep an eye, dad said he needed a nap after mowing the lawn. So I mumbled under my breath and walked out on the driveway to look for kiddo who was probably at the end of the street taking a turn.

Nope, I did not see him. I went further down into the street, and yet no sign of him. I ran to the end of the street and asked my friend there if he had seen the little guy. He said yes, he was here riding the scooter! A chill ran down my spine. Where was he? I ran down to the cul-de-sac, from where a hike and bike trail goes around the whole subdivision and looked around, no sign of him at all. I ran back home, and told my husband. He was recovering from a knee surgery, and was not the best runner at that point of time. I ran the other way down the main road, into the adjacent street........... but he was nowhere to be seen! Tears were streaming down my face now, and I decided to put on something on my feet, it was not a good idea running all over bare foot.

Meanwhile, the people in my street realized what had happened. My husband, and four other neighbors set out on bikes to scour the bike trails. There was a brother and sister pair who lived on our street, and they both set out on their bikes, walkie talkie in hand, with the other handset with their mom. Everyone was really worried because everyone knew my son was almost non verbal, and were not sure if he knew how to go around the place.

That was one thing I was not worried about, because, in spite of very limited language, he is always very good with directions. Autistic people are like that. They have some strong features. I ran into other streets where other people asked me what he was wearing and started looking. Soon there were a few cars driving slowly all over the place. Twenty minutes passed, I was beside myself with worry. I picked up the phone and called 911. The cop was at the door in no time. He asked me the details and drove away.

I was running helter-skelter again trying to look for my baby. Then one person asked me if he could swim. My heart sank. There were lakes on the trails, but he always kept away from the banks.  The worst thoughts go through your mind at such times! What if someone ran him over? What if someone just picked him up and drove away?
Just then, the mom with the walkie talkie ran up to me and said, "my kids called, they found him at .........."! I looked at her in disbelief and ran to get the car keys, I was so relieved that I could not figure out where the cross street was! I got there in two minutes and hugged him, and the two kids who found him, they were both just a couple of years older than my son. I saw the cop drive by, I told him I had found my boy. I also saw several cars take a u-turn and head back home.

So many people I did not even know were looking for my son. I thanked as many of them as I could. They all said the same thing, 'would you have not looked if my child was missing?' It was a good lesson that day, about how good people exist everywhere, and how they are out helping you even you have not asked them to. I will never forget that Indian Independence day party we had that night, where people asked me if I had a fight and had cried a lot. My story was one big conversation piece that evening!