You could hear it in her voice. Something was terribly wrong.
I don’t know her name or anything much else about her, apart from the fact that she had a slight European accent and that she had a daughter named Nadia.
Pauline and I were shopping in Target yesterday when a woman went rushing down an aisle near us calling for Nadia. She was looking behind racks of clothing, toys, books and whatever else was obscuring her view of the area. As she continued to call out for Nadia I could hear that she was becoming more and more distressed.
I was torn inside. There’s not a lot more heartbreaking than seeing a parent who has lost their child. I wanted to make things better. I wanted to find Nadia.
The mother saw a shop assistant and I overheard her describing her daughter and saying that Nadia was just two years old and wearing red. That’s all the information I needed.
I headed off around the store trying to find the little girl. I knew that if I found her I’d have to then find a shop assistant to approach the girl. A middle aged man talking to a young girl separated from her mother wouldn’t look too good, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from joining the search.
As I continued around the shop I could hear Nadia’s mother still rushing around, now more frantic than ever, calling, “Nadia. Nadia. Nadia.”
I turned the corner into the ladies clothing area and spotted a cute little girl wearing red. A female shopper was there too. Just at that moment a shop assistant turned up and the female shopper told her that this little girl was lost. 30 seconds later Nadia’s mum came around the corner and hugged her little girl. All was well with the world.
What is it about other people’s pain that churns us up so much? I’ll probably never see Nadia or her mum again but for a few moments yesterday, finding Nadia was the only thing that mattered. I was so churned up inside. The feeling of relief when Nadia was found was huge.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Lost Child – Frantic – Shopping
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Isn’t it sad that guys can’t get near children… even to help them? But on a lighter note, man, I’m glad she was found quickly and unharmed. So when my wife and I come to the land downunder on vacation in a year she can still shop at Target? She’ll be hapy! HA!
I agree with what Geo said… so sad that our world is so messed up. But I think that feeling of wanting to help resonates in us all, especially those of us with kids. Thanks for having such a great heart Rodney.
I agree, sad thing that even in a stressy situation like this thoughts like, as a man you should not approach a little girl alone, have to come to your mind…
Good thing that even in stressy situations you have a clear mind. And a caring heart 🙂
good onya bro.
Wow, Rodney, that is a touching story with a happy ending! We have 3 kids – now 9, 13 and 15 years old – but I will never forget the day that my eldest child, Robin, walked away on a camping site. We were building a little holiday house and his grandmother was talking to a neighbour when all of a sudden Robin was gone. Maybe the search lasten 5 minutes, but these minutes felt like terrible hours to me – a dad looking for his little boy. Man, I was so glad to find him a couple of metres away from the spot that he had left. And my mother felt so quilty about losing sight of him for just a couple of seconds – I felt so sorry for her too!
We have told our children that the must always approach a lady whenever they can’t find us. I am sure you are a great guy with good intentions, but this is a screwed up world and some people take advantage of little children as we all know. Most of the time these abusers are men – it almost makes you feel emarassed to be a man. Just because I seldom read about women abusing kids (although I’m sure they exist too), we told our kids to ask a lady for help.
There is another, deeper, layer in your story. I have to think about the Father looking for His lost children and I just can’t imagine the pain He feels…
Blessings, bro
Paul
Yeah, i got all churned up just reading it! Can’t imagine how you felt. I am glad there are good people like you out there.
I had goose bumps while reading this, I agree loosing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare and unfortunately we are all now very very scared and tought our littlies to be aware of strangers they don’t know. But it’s so sad that this happened. I was happy today to see the soccer coach still patting the boys on the back and said “good job”. As swimming teachers we have to touch kids to guide their movements and it is sad that we now have less and less teachers because every one with a lovely attitude to teaching almost gets blamed for harresment or such things. What is the world comming too.
Good on you for helping, I would have done the same.
BTW: We plan more bike rides in the future and would love you all to join us. I’ll e-mail you!
I’ve been at the materninty ward alot over the past few days, & hearing little bay’s cry, even when they’re not your own, all do want to do is cuddle them & let them know that all is ok.