The Lost Little Boy: Colt

Today I am forever changed by a little boy whom I will never see again, yet I will not soon forget. My thirty minute interaction with this sweet, sad child is imprinted in my heart and I will always say a prayer for him.
Today, while driving to my sister's house, I made a last minute turn to check on our rental house. Driving down the street, I suddenly come across a baby in the middle of the street alone. He is emotionless and lost and I immediately jump out of my car to check on him. I feel as if I am calling a stray dog as he is completely unresponsive to my attempts at getting his attention. As I approach him, I gasp at his much too long hair, his overly crusty nose, a terrible cough, and his much too neglected and full diaper (no clothes on at all)...among other things. Already, my heart is going out to this child. I knock on the door of what I assume to be his home but there is no answer. I attempt to knock on the doors of neighbors to find out info on this poor baby and at this point, I have accumulated a few neighbors and have called the police. Fortunately, I am always in mom-mode, and I have plenty of pull-ups/toys to distract him. When he saw the new pull-up, he immediately attempted to take his off and was overjoyed at seeing the new one. In our brief time together, he becomes quickly attached to me, and I have to say I too became enamored by him as well. I later found out that he is 2 years old, but he was unable to speak a single word :(. Thirty minutes later, his 'mom' finally comes outdoors and sits next to me on the curb, where I am holding Colt (she tells me his name). There is no sense of alarm, or where is Colt, or who are you and why are you holding him?!? She sits there and continues to chat on her cell phone while I am holding her child in my lap. The community of caregivers who have come together on behalf of this lost little boy are all astonished and it becomes attack time on her. She goes on to tell us that she is not in fact his mom, just the 'girlfriend' of dad. When it comes time to finally pass him off to her, he screams and cries for me and doesn't want to go with her. The fact that he preferred a stranger to the mother figure residing in his home brought tears to my eyes. This breaks me and I just nearly had an Amber Alert out for myself right then and there! She finally gets him inside and the cops FINALLY arrive. Due to my own two children being in the car, I give my brief statement and needed to leave so I am unsure what exactly happened.
The Lessons I Learned Today:
My kids learned that police officers will help you when you are lost! Great example for them to see first hand.
I learned that even though God granted me my two miracle babies, mothering doesn't stop there. I told Keith that I nearly came home with another little boy today, and if they would have let me I would have. (He is very relieved that they didn't let me).
How do you go on and not know the ending of the story? As a teacher, this is often the scenario... But this last minute turn on the road, being in the right place at the right time, wondering if my hugs were the only ones he has received today; The what ifs.... what if I didn't go that way? what if someone were texting and driving and didn't see him? what if.......
What if it were my child? your child?