Related Memory #4: Daughter Disappears

Ah, for whatever reason I remember saying that Second Daughter never hid from me again after that incident in Victoria Park (in Ft. Lauderdale). But, for whatever reason, I now remember that that's not true. She did hide again, this time maybe four years later when she was over at a friend's house.

This time Second Daughter was maybe eight or nine years old and she'd gone to Carly's house to play after school. When I showed up to get her, neither I or Carly's mom could find the two of them. They had been playing outside (a nice neighborhood, Carly's family-her parents--nice people who we were friends with) and it was strange that they were not around. Of course, being parents, after so many minutes of looking and calling we began to think the worst. You can't help it. Neither Carly's mother or I said anything, but it was there, the thought of kidnapping and killing or just plain lost.

It took a while, but finally their two heads popped up from inside the new car in the driveway. They had been playing inside the Toyota Sequoia and had hidden in there.

Ah.

I did not strike or get loud, but I was angry. I let my daughter know--once again--that such games were forbidden, that they were wrong and I believe that this time it stuck.

She's seventeen now, drives herself around town, a straight A student and high achiever. So, I guess she learned something.