I don't remember how the conversation got to this point, but for some reason I had casually mentioned that I lock my children in their rooms at night when I put them to bed. My sister-in-law started laughing and immediately said: "you are so funny!" I could tell she thought I was joking. So I made sure she knew I wasn't. "No, I'm serious, I lock my kids in their rooms at night." She gave me a very nervous laugh. There was silence for a few seconds, and she said: "You're being serious?"
I could tell that she was either going to call Child Protective Services on me or never talk to me again. The memory of what happened to instigate us buying a lock for our front door and my kids' bedrooms all came rushing back to me. It was one of the scariest days of my life and I will gladly lock my kids in their rooms to at least give me some peace of mind at night.
It happened over a year ago. I will never forget that day.
We used to live in a beautifully wooded neighborhood that was very close to the Metro station. Jason takes the Metro to work everyday, and this particular neighborhood is the closest you can get to the metro station. It's in a very thickly wooded forest and when you walk to the end of the street there is a paved path that goes down a hill. At the bottom of the hill you walk maybe 50 more feet and there is the Metro station. The Metro train that takes you into DC stops here, as well as the Virginia Railway Express. The VRE tracks are right on the ground and you could just walk right on the tracks if you wanted to. The Metro tracks are harder to get to, but you could definitely fall into the Metro tracks pit. I'm just trying to paint a picture of this for you. There is a walkway bridge that lets you cross the VRE tracks to get to the Metro tracks. This video I am showing you was taken from the walkway that overlooks the VRE tracks.
Now let me tell you about my next door neighbor when we lived in this house. Their names were Mark and Kelly. They really were the greatest neighbors ever and Kelly and I became good friends, even though she was in her fifties. They adopted a dog that was an older already trained dog. Her name was Jordyn. She was about 5 years old and really the best dog ever. When they first got their dog we would play with her over at their house for hours. I was certain (and am still very certain) that we would one day also get a dog for our boys.
Now that I've brought you up to speed with the circumstances, I will relive that day. It still gives me chills and brings me to tears when I think about it.
Asher had just turned 2 and was invited to his very first birthday party. I could not have been more thrilled as we don't get invited to a lot of birthday parties. I was excited to get Asher socializing with some other kids and maybe make a new friend. It was early on a Saturday morning. I got Asher ready and dressed him up so cute and put him in the car. Jason was home but he was busy setting up a new toddler bed for Ezra. He was downstairs in the basement with his drill putting it together. As I was pulling out in the car, I looked up and saw Ezra staring at me through his bedroom window. I waved and didn't think of it again for another second. We drove to the birthday party and Asher had a great time.
 |
| Asher at his first official birthday party! |
Mark told him everything that happened: Mark plays racquetball every Saturday morning. This particular Saturday morning, Kelly called him to come home. Jordyn, their dog, went outside and ran away. Kelly didn't know where Jordyn was and the dog had never done this before, so she called Mark to help her come and look for the dog. Mark begrudgingly came home early. He drove his car down to the Metro path because he knew his dog loved to play in the meadow along the path. All of a sudden he said he looked up to see Ezra running down the busy street headed straight to the VRE tracks. He said that Ezra did not look scared at all, but determined and he knew exactly what he was doing. He waited for a few seconds to see if we were close by. When one of us didn't show up he went after him.
Mark said that he corralled Ezra into his car so that he would not run away again. Ezra wasn't scared and sat in the front seat. There was a lady walking by who was going to the Metro herself. She became concerned because she felt like Mark was trying to kidnap Ezra. The lady stayed with Ezra and Mark and threatened to call the police. It was only a few minutes later that Jason came running down the path out of breath looking for Ezra. Ezra jumped into his arms and Jason carried him home safe and sound.
Oh, and are you wondering what happened to Jordyn? Well, she went right back home and was in their front yard when Mark pulled in. I truly think that dog saved the day. And God too, for sure. I almost died that day. So many things could have happened to Ezra that didn't happen. He could have been hit by a car. He could have been hit by a train. He could have been kidnapped. He could have fallen into the creek and drowned. But nothing happened and I know it's because Ezra is such a special kid and he has a whole group of guardian angels watching him each and everyday. Even Mark, who is an atheist and the head biologist at the National Zoo, admitted to me that there was some greater power that day protecting Ezra.
 |
| Ezra had no problem falling asleep that night. He fell asleep on the floor even before bedtime. |
That day was spent snuggling Ezra all day long. And Jason took a trip to Home Depot and bought 2 locks for the kids' bedroom doors and a top latch lock for our front door. And I still lock my kids in their rooms at night and I feel absolutely great about it. :-)
