Grant Greetings

Where's Tyler ?

In my 8.5 years of being a mom I have not lost any of my children until now. The kids and I went to the Zoo with my friend Natalie and her kids during spring break. It was a beautiful day and we were having a great time until she asked, “Where’s Tyler?” I looked around and scanned the area and could not see him anywhere. I started to panic. I could have sworn I saw him leaning over the railing observing the sea lions with the other kids. Did some one snatch him? Did he go running off to look at something else? Where was my boy? I couldn't see him anywhere!

My lips and face started to grow numb; a lump formed in my throat, my heart started pounding out of my chest and the world was swirling around me. I wondered if I would ever see my precious boy again. I called out his name several times and ran over to a concession stand to get help. There were so many different paths, which one did he take? I said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help us find Tyler. I dressed him in a red GAP sweatshirt just in case anything like this happened, but to my amazement a lot of boys had red sweatshirts/ shirts/ jackets on. I guess other moms had the same idea! People were pointing to different boys in red "is that him?" I desperately wanted one of them to be him, but he was gone!

While I was running around frantically searching, my friend and Alisha thought “maybe Tyler kept going on the path we were on before we turned off to see the sea lions.” So, she sent Alisha and her daughter Brianna to go see. Luckily, they did find Tyler, about 100 yards away from where we were, talking to a lady who was trying to ask him questions to help him find his mommy. Meanwhile, I ran back over to Natalie and the kids wondering how I was going to call Jason and let him know that I lost his ONLY son. Then I heard, “They found him.” Those words were music to my ears. I snatched him up and hugged him so hard. Tears streamed down my face. I was so grateful that Heavenly Father led the girls to him and that he is back with us. I felt awful that he did not know we turned and he kept walking down the path to the camels by himself. Luckily he did not stray so that we could find him and lead him back to safety.