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Thursday, December 13, 2007

A little scare last night...



So, this is where we spent part of our night last night - walking through a dark cemetery. Only, the moon wasn't full. It was just a little sliver of light. The evening was dark and cold. At one point I lost sight of Marc and called him on his cell phone, and said, "Under any other circumstances I would be totally freaked out right now, walking through a cemetery by myself like this..."

You see, it all started when we were out running a couple of errands. I convinced Marc to come with me, with the promise, "I swear, we'll be back within 15 minutes." Well, as soon as we got in the car there was an announcement on the radio that a boy with autism from our local high school was lost in the mountains adjacent to the school. So, we made our first stop and then had a little debate - should we go see if we could help? Should we just keep going about our errand-running?

In the end we decided we had to at least see if there was some way we could help. We arrived just as it was getting dark and the guy heading up the search effort assigned us to search the cemetery, which is nearby. We noticed that one volunteer was standing around with a box of flashlights, but for some reason he was unwilling to hand any over. We thought we might have one or two somewhere in the car, so we drove over to the cemetery without thinking more about it. When we arrived, we looked around the car, and nope, no flashlights. Not only that... but we didn't have anything we would need in an emergency. Except a first-aid kit. And ketchup packets in the glove box - an emergency essential. I guess you just don't think about the importance of a lot of little things until you find yourself in an emergency. We now have a new list of things to put in our truck to be better prepared for next time.

So, we met up with a couple of other searchers who were already at the cemetery. We were sweeping the entire area (the two of us being the only ones without flashlights), walking about 20 yards apart from each other. By this time it was getting dark fast. I was assigned a side that had a lot of bushes and trees and was looking closely in every dark cove where someone might be found. That was about the point when I lost where Marc was. I panicked a little. Until that point I hadn't even thought about how frightening this situation would have been had we been there for any other reason.

After we finished searching the cemetery we went back to the search headquarters - a parking lot next to the school. They were setting up large tents and getting ready for an all-nighter. There were lots of people there. It was really an amazing sight. We stayed and helped as long as we could. Even after we left, we couldn't think about anything else for the rest of the night.

Fortunately, we got a phone call very early this morning letting us know that they did find the lost boy at about 1 a.m., walking past the cemetery back towards the high school. Thankfully there was a very happy ending to this story. Such relief!

On the way home, Marc insisted that we stop and pick up a couple of these:

(Hand crank LED flashlight that doesn't require batteries)

And, one of these:

"This 6-in-1 PSD (Personal Safety Device?) incorporates six of the most important tools you will need in an emergency or disaster with the functionality of a radio, cell phone charger, flashlight, emergency flashers, siren and compass that can also be used without batteries."

Little by little we'll be more and more prepared.

5 comments:

the splendid life of us... said...

How awesome for you to help! When Bryce's little sister went missing, the entire town helped search for her. It was such an amazing thing to see so many strangers willing to help. I am glad that your story had a good ending too (ours didnt).

We have the wind up flashlights, they are pretty awsome. I am going to tell Bryce about the other kind, I have never seen those before.

dust and kam said...

Wow, I would have freaked! I can freak myself out so easily. I hate being home alone!

I am glad that everything turned out good for the young boy and his family!

Calamity Jane said...

Growing up with a cemetary just down the street should have prepared Marc to feel right at home.
You two are so thoughtful to help. (we have a few of those flashlights and love them.)

Marc and Megan said...

Brenley, I'm so sorry about Bryce's sister. I can't imagine how much more scary it must be when it's someone you know and love.

Kamie, I'm the same way.

Calamity, yeah Marc wasn't phased by the cemetary at all.

Michal said...

i wandered over here after seeing you on a couple of blogrolls (i frequent calamity jane's, among others). just wanted to say thank you for helping look for the lost boy. our oldest son is on the autistic spectrum and there are times when i know he would really suffer if it weren't for the support of our family, friends, and community.
good luck with your adoption. we have a niece and a nephew adopted through LDSFS and have had a wonderful experience with that. may the lord bless your righteous desire to be parents.