My Son Didn’t Get Kidnapped

My hands are shaking as I write this.  I’m so mad, terrified and relieved.

   At 3:30 this afternoon I got a phone call from a strange man who said, “Is this Shawn’s mom?”

“I have a son, Sandor,” I was driving along, listening to NPR.

“Well, I have him here in my truck ma’am.”

My heart stopped and I hit the brakes.

“Why? Where are you, he’s supposed to be on the bus, on the way home?” I couldn’t control my voice.

“Yes ma’am, I saw him on the side of the road crying and I picked him up, can you tell me where I should take him?”

All I could think was ‘please don’t hang up, please stay on the line’. But I said, “Oh my God. Can I speak to Sandor please?”

“Of  course,” he said.

I could hear Sandor crying. My boy was sniffing and crying. “Mom?”

“Sweetie, are you ok?” I was trying not to to scream or cry. Tears washed down my face. “Give the man our address but stay on the phone. Ok?”

My son recited our address to the stranger. The man said something about knowing where we lived.  Then he drove my crying son home. We stayed on the phone the entire time. Sandor had gotten confused about his after school schedule. He thought he was supposed to go to Taekwondo but no one was there.

Sandor waited in the parking lot for 15 minutes, crying in the cold rain. He didn’t know what to do. He is nine so he didn’t have a phone.

This man, who said his name was Shane Knight said he drove by, saw the little boy crying and shivering so he pulled over. He did not kidnap or murder my son. He took him home.

 The stranger got back on the phone with me and said, “I’m giving your son a card. I clean carpets so if you carpets need cleaning give me a call.”

“Where are you now?” I asked, still not trusting him but praying to God I could.

“In your driveway.”

I owe this man my life, my soul my world. If you are reading this and live in Garlnad County please, promise me, you’ll throw some business his way. His name is Shane and he works for Super Clean. Thier number is 800-537-3714. He’s my hero and I love him.

If you have a child who rides a bus make sure you understand their policy on this sort of thing. I dont think little kids need phones but Sandor will get a pre-paid on this week, to keep in his back pack. The world has changed.

For the rest of my life I will be thanking God with every fiber of my being for Shane.

When I got home Sandor and I hugged and hugged on my bed. He said, “While I was waiting I prayed.”

“And God sent you and angel, didnt’ he?”

Sandor nodded his head then laughed for the first time. “He had tattoos, that means he was an angel with tattoos.”

I kissed the top of his head. “Yeah, it does.”

Stupid Cyber-Bully

Finally, I have almost experienced a cyber-bully. I let my youngest son,I’ll call him Bucky, have a Facebook page even though he’s only 9. But I use my e-mail address so I have access to the page and see everything people write.

Bucky doesn’t really care about anything except looking at cool pictures, the silly games and writing “Hi’ on everybody’s wall.

Things have been problem free for more than a year but last month a  kid name Jason that I don’t know sent Bucky a message, something like, “my homie said u r gay for real.”

I didn’t catch this comment until Bucky wrote back “butt face”.

Then Jason, who is three years older than Bucky wrote ‘bring it on dick banger”.  Bucky didn’t know what any of this meant so he came to me to ask what Jason was talking about.

AAAARRRRR. I blocked Jason after going over every message, picture and video on his face book page.

“Who is this kid”,I asked Bucky while he was playing with his Legos.

“I don’t know, I think he rides my bus.”

“You don’t know him?”

“Not really, he’s in like 5th grade.” 

Bucky didnt’ seem bothered so after blocking “bad kid Jason” I let everything drop.  I told big sister to keep an eye on Bucky while they were on the bus.

We haven’t heard from Jason in a month, but today a new message popped up on Bucky’s page. All it said is “F UUUUUUUUU.”

So what am I supposed to do?  Should I send “bad kid Jason” a message and say, “Hey, idiot, this is Bucky’s “Bad-A” mom, and I’m reading all the messages you send.”

Do I ignore it?

Or, do I print the messages out and go tell his mom?  I figured out who she and and were she works while studying his FB page.

One thing I have figured out. Just having access to your child’s FB isn’t enough. You have to actually look at the page. Figure out what’s really going on.

I’ll let you know what happens.  Please, send me ideas if you have any. Please, please please.  hampoland@gmail.com