Hitting Home

This beautiful little boy is missing and something about it has really hit home. I don't know if it's because he's from Oregon, or because he's seven, or maybe because the circumstances leading to his disappearance are so normal and everyday for me --not unlike something that would happen in our house. It could be that he somehow reminds me of my J. The hair and the missing teeth, sans the glasses, and that's him.

It sounds like he and his step mom went to the science fair on Friday morning, checked out the wares, and then she walked him to a place close to his classroom where she thought he was safe. He never got off the bus that afternoon and they later found out that he had been marked absent from class for the day.

Just yesterday I had a conversation with Colleen, J's teacher, about this. He was absent from school on Friday and I forgot to call. She said that the school calls the parents after roll call is taken if the child is not there and there was no call informing them that would be the case. She said they want to ensure that the child hasn't gotten lost.

She admitted that at times she doesn't take roll until later in the day and it sounds like that's exactly what happened here. I understand that teachers are overwhelmed with work and that classrooms are filled to capacity with children to their one adult. But I also can't let go of the thought that maybe if his parents had been informed early on, someone would have found him before critical time passed by.

Everyday I watch as J gets onto the bus and never again give any thought to if he'll make it to school. When 3:30 rolls around I go to the bus stop to pick him up, always assuming he'll be one of the first to get off. Some days I wait too long and by the time I walk out he's already close to home or ringing the doorbell. I still hadn't figured out if we'd let him walk to the bus stop alone in the morning next year. I was leaning towards no. I'm no longer leaning, I've now fallen completely into the land of Nay.

I can't stop thinking of how scared Kyron must be. It breaks my heart to think that he is living in constant fear. I pray he will come home safely; that God will bestow a miracle upon him and his family, and that the only thing hitting their home in the near furture will be the sound of the door as this beautiful child walks through it again.