We didn’t notice it was gone until bedtime. It had been a
busy, running around kind of day. It was a rare Saturday that husband had to
work. Number three was going to respite. Myself, number 1, and number 2 were
splitting our day between grandparents.
Green blankie was missing. One cannot even really call it
green anymore. It once was a light soft green but years of love have turned it
more to an ashy gray. A classic Winnie the Pooh and Piglit adorn the bottom of
the blanket. Number 2 knows every inch of the blankie by heart. He has a
special “pocket” where he likes to slip two of his little fingers in. He likes
to have the “pokey” side wrapped around his body so he can wear green blankie
as a cape. Many times he refuses to use a towel as he prefers blankie to dry
himself off with. Green blankie is his safety, his friend, his comfort.
How the hell could we have lost it?
We searched the house, we searched the cars, we called the
grandparents. No one had it. No one really remembered where they had seen it
last. Blankie was such a familiar sight, such a part of number 2 that it doesn’t
really stick out in memory. It’s just there.
I called the restaurant where we had lunch and waited on
hold for 20 minutes while they searched for it. It was not there. Where could
it be?
The last place we had been that night before going home was
Cathedral park to see “Trek in the Park”. Cathedral park is a good 30-40 minute
drive away. It was really the only place it could be. Maybe it had fallen out
of a bag. Maybe number 2 had dropped it while running around. Did it even go to
the park with us?
I tried getting number 2 to bed without green blankie. He
cried and twisted around, calling out for his blankie. I laid next to him
crying too, feeling like a failure of a parent for not paying enough attention.
How could I have let this happen?
No, NO! I will not go down with a fight. We don’t leave a man behind in this family and
green blankie is family. Number 2 and I grabbed two little tiny flashlights (we
really need to get new batteries for the normal size flashlights) and got into
the car. We were on an adventure to save green blankie.
With me in my snowflake jammies and number 2 clutching his
small orange flashlight, we head out to Cathedral park. We picked my mom, Bubbie
up for reinforcement and began our journey. We winded our way through the
black, back roads of Forest Park to reach our destination. Number 2 feel asleep
shortly after picking up Bubbie.
I am thankful that I had an extra adult with me once we
finally reached Cathedral Park. It is no means in a “bad” part of town but
being a female in snowflake pajamas in a park in Portland at 11pm is slightly…uncomfortable.
The first scan of an area we played in turned up nothing. I
was near tears, fearful that our brave adventure would turn out to be a big
flop. Determined to not lose hope, I continued on to the next area of the park
we played.
“please, God, please, God” played over and over again in my
head as I headed up a hill. In the distance I saw a pale pile. “Oh God, please”.
The closer I got the faster my prayer became. I reached down and touched it and
cried out with delight. Green blankie! I had found green blankie!
I gave the slightly damp green blankie to a sleeping number
2 who barely acknowledged its presence. I figured by the morning he would
realize he had it back and award me with millions of kisses (wrong). I was a
hero. I did not give up. We did not leave a man behind. And hopefully, I earned
a bazillion brownie points with my number 2.
The moral of the story? Don’t lose an important member of
the family! I have plans of attaching a tag to green blankie that has our phone
number and a reward for its safe return. Never again….
