“Wake up sleepy head," there was no response so I pulled the covers off of Diamond. “I’m tired mom, just let me sleep,” “NO Diamond, you have to get ready for school.” Diamond woke up, looked around the room, pulled the covers over her and laid back down. I pulled the covers off of her again and opened the curtain to the window beside her bed. The morning sun beamed right at her making her frustrated and eventually Diamond got out of bed. We did our daily routine, ate breakfast, got ready and flew out the door. I dropped Diamond off at daycare, before I left I gave her a hug, a kiss and told her I loved her. Then I was off to work. What started out as an ordinary morning soon became the most horrifying day of my life.
It was Tuesday, like any other Tuesday; I went to work and school. As usual, work was boring and school was long. I couldn’t wait to get done with class so that I could see my daughter. I was nervous about her starting Kindergarten and since today was only her third day of school, she was all I could think about. Sitting through my sociology class felt like slow motion, it felt as if the clock would never hit 3:00. Finally, 3:00 came around and I was free, done with work and school for the day.
I rushed to my car and I was on my way to pick up Diamond. When I arrived at day care, Krista, one of the staff, pointed to the back room and said Diamond had just gotten off the bus and was in the back room. As I made my way to the back room I could hear the kids running and talking. I entered the room waiting and expecting Diamond to run to me and give me a hug as usual. She always noticed me right away, I looked around the room but I didn’t see Diamond. Jenny the staff in the class room, said she didn’t see diamond come into the room. I figured maybe Diamond was in the bathroom, so I checked, but no sign of her. I immediately found Krista and told her that Jenny didn’t see Diamond enter the class room. Krista said she swore Diamond got off the bus but her face expression was full of uncertainty and her voice was soft and shaky as if she were scared. So I asked her, “Krista did you or did you not see Diamond get off the bus?” finally, Krista said “I’m not sure,” I was frustrated with her and thought to myself, how could this clueless girl be working at a daycare. I pictured myself in slow motion punching her in the face, but I snapped back into reality and without thinking twice, I went into Katie’s office, the director; I told her Diamond was not at daycare. She looked at me, and told me not to worry because kids sometimes fall asleep and miss their bus stop or get off on the wrong bus stop. I called the bus company while Katie called the school. Kathy, the lady who worked for the bus company said she would contact all bus drivers and as soon as she heard anything she would contact me.
Thirty minutes later, Katie’s phone rings, I jumped up hoping to hear that Diamond was at school and that she was safe, Katie turned and looked at me and said “Diamond is not at school” as she hung up the phone. I could tell Katie was worried, she kept on walking back and forth holding her phone tight, she didn’t want to scare me more than I already was but I knew she was just as worried as I was. Finally, an hour later, the bus company called to confirm that diamond was not on any of the busses.
The next step was to call the police, Katie called 911 and handed me the phone, the dispatcher asked me to give a detailed description of what Diamond was wearing. I felt sick to my stomach, my voice was shaking as I talked to the dispatcher. All I could think about was where my five year old daughter could be. What if she was lost? What if she was in the hands of a pettifile? What if I don’t find her? My mind was racing from a horrible thought to another. I imagined myself handing out fliers asking anyone and everyone if they’ve seen this little girl that belonged to me. I was numb, I was afraid, and I was worried. This is a mother’s worst nightmare and it was happening to me. The Onalaska Police Department was searching for my daughter, retracing all the stops the bus made in case she got off the wrong bus stop. The principle of Diamonds school came to the daycare to meet me. While introducing himself to me, he said, I’ am so sorry, I don’t know how this could have happened.” I was so angry, I felt as if my heart was pounding out of my chest, I took a deep breath, as I replied, “How did this happen? I drop my child off at daycare, she made it to school safely, why was she not on any of the busses and why was she not checked out of school?” the principle had nothing to say except that he was sorry, he stayed at the daycare for about fifteen minutes and was off to search for Diamond, along with the bus driver and the police. He took my phone number and told me he would call me if he found or heard anything about Diamond.
At his point it was a waiting game and I felt helpless. I wanted to go look for my daughter but the police officer demanded that I stay at the day care incase anything happened. I watched nervously, as each parent came to pick up their children. I thought to myself why didn’t I give diamond a longer hug and longer kiss, now she is missing and I don’t know what’s going to happen.
6:30 pm my phone rings, without hesitation I pick up “Hello” it was a police officer ,“I found Diamond, she was riding her bike down the street.” Before the police officer could say another word, I said “have her stay at my neighbors house I will be right there” I called Carole my neighbor, to inform her of the situation and told her to keep an eye on Diamond until I got there. Before I ended the call I was already out the door. I raced home and when I saw Diamond, without saying anything, I gave her a hug. She cried and told me what happened. Somehow she got on the wrong bus, luckily the bus that she was on made a stop close to our house. Diamond was able to notice a house that looked familiar located two blocks down from our house and got off that bus stop with the other kids. She ended up walking home, since I wasn’t home and I was still at the daycare, no one was there to open the door for Diamond. She walked down the street to her friends house and she stayed there for about two hours. She came back to the house but still no one was home so she took her bike out and went for a bike ride and that’s when the police officer spotted Diamond.
Although diamond was found safe, I think back on that horrifying day, from the moment me and Diamond woke up until I picked her up. Retracing every emotion I felt that day, I now take time to enjoy breakfast with my daughter, I give her longer hugs, more kisses and I tell her I love her more. Since this incident I have realized how easy a child could get lost or go missing, I hear on the news and on the radio of children missing, where they were last seen or what they were wearing but I never knew the feeling of those parents with their children missing until it happened to me. I am just glad and grateful that my beautiful daughter is alive and safe.
Believe it or not, texting while driving is just as bad as drinking and driving. Many teenagers see the harm in both but believe drinking and driving is more dangerous. A survey was conducted, “36 percent strongly agree that if they regularly text and drive they could be killed one day. In contrast, the majority of teens (55 percent) strongly agree that drinking while driving could be fatal” (Interactive 1). “Some teens still think the consequences of reaching for a cell phone are less severe than reaching for a beer bottle” (Stiles 2). “200,000 crashes each year are caused by drivers who are texting” (The National Safety Council 2). 200,000 of those crashes could have been avoided. Texting or drinking while driving distracts from driving and the reaction time to avoid an accident is slim. 