Keep the little ones close

I can still remember it like it was yesterday (even though it happened over 30 yrs ago) and it scared the life out of me, DW and all our neighbors. DW, 5 yr old daughter Stephanie and I were home on an ordinary weekend doing things families do on weekends. Suddenlly DW came into the room and asked me "where is Stephanie?" I told her I thought she was with you and it was on. We started calling her name and going through the house looking in closets, bathrooms, etc; she was nowhere to be found. We then thought she might have sneaked outdoors (which she never did without us) to play in the back yard. Our neighbors saw us acting oddly I guess and by twos and threes came over to see what was going on. After a few minutes, the whole block was looking for Stephanie, including a deputy sheriff. After what seemed an eternity DW decided to make one more sweep through the house and she found Stephanie asleep in her bedroom on the floor between her bed and the wall; a very narrow opening. I had to laugh and cry at the same time over the irony of having searched the house multiple times and not seeing her. It really brought it home to us that no matter what you do, how diligently you watch, the little ones can vanish in the blink of an eye.