BOLO - Be On the Look Out....Silver Alert

What a week I have had. I have to admit...when I tell you this story...you will never believe it. On Tuesday I began to experience every child with aging parents worst nightmare. At 9:00 on Tuesday night I had to call the police to let them know that my parents were missing...and had not been seen since 1:00 when they left their friend Gay off at her house. At first it felt ridiculous...but as time began to pass...I became more frantic. At 11:00 the Alex City Police Dept called to let me know they had been found at their house...and contact had been made....but it was a false alarm. I came home from the drive to Kellyton...empty feeling. I slept an hour on Tuesday night...only to wake up early....staring at the big empty place where they usually park. I went to school early to leave lesson plans...I just knew that they would be found...Kat called me while I was at school and let me know she was on her way....once she got here we left Frank manning the phones and we began scouring the countryside...to no avail. They were nowhere to be found. Weds. afternoon....after several futile attempts to locate them...I called the Dept. of Public Safety and they issued a Media Blitz. One of Kat's friends called Kim Hendrix at WSFA Channel 12 and gave her the story....we sent a picture....and the story aired at 5:30...and again at 10:00. People came and went all day, bringing food, calling, praying, hugging, it was such an emotional day...and there was no news. Weds. night fell and I began realizing that this was probably not going to have a happy ending...but I refused to give up. I got an Alabama map and began to create quadrant maps for the search parties that were going out on Thursday. We came up with 7 maps. The searchers came, got a map, food and water...and began their searches. Kat's friends from Montgomery came and we paired some of them with locals and gave the ones who were not paired with a local detailed search area maps...and they all began. By 12...no one had seen anything...and I was feeling so very sad....at 12:45...my phone rang and Mrs. Leola Lashley told me her son had just been called to go and get their van....the police called and said they had been found! I cannot describe the feelings that rushed through me. Where had they been? For two days they were stuck in a muddy ditch with a blown tire...down a pig trail road that leads to Fox Creek - part of the Tallapoosa River. This is a place where kids go to drink, sell drugs and park....They could have been killed...and in all of our searching....we would never have found them....none of us would have gone down this road. So, we all jumped in Shareefa's car and headed to the hospital. People began pouring into the hospital parking lot...they had been found. They were dehydrated, starving, but ok...and they were a muddy mess. WAKA Channel 8 showed up with a camera and a reporter....and I was so tired. I looked rough on camera. I am tired....so now I must close my eyes and rest...Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have this happen to you? I hope not...it was not fun. I am still feeling strange. They are still in the hospital tonight...they are not going to come home with me...they are being sent to assisted living....now that is another battle for another day....and I am so tired I can hardly hold my eyes open. God is so Good...all the time...isn't he?