SPOILER ALERT: Mom this is a story I have never shared with anyone but my wife. No need to freak out when you read this.
OK, It's funny how our memories can work. Something we completely forgot about, comes to mind with a trigger. Or, even an incident occurred you forgot about it until many years later. That's how it is with a few of my memories. I can distinctly remember a lot of it as if it happened yesterday, rather than many years ago. That's how it is with the following story I will tell.
Let me preface this with the fact that only my wife knows any of this story. The funny thing is that when it occurred, I didn't think anything of the situation nor the potential danger I was in. Years later, I would understand what happened and thank God there were elements in place which kept me from making what I think would have been a fatal mistake. This isn't meant to be a cute, brave little story - in fact I consider myself very lucky.
This event happened back when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was down the street from my house hanging out with my friends, the Donovans, in their front yard.
A car pulled up to the curb. It was a small red convertible driven by a man wearing sunglasses and had a brown mustache. He was also wearing one of those checkered driving hats (It's amazing I can remember that much detail years later). He asked me how to get to a particular street in the neighborhood. I told him to drive past the stop sign and it was the first street on the left past that. He didn't seem to comprehend my directions and kept asking. Finally, he asked if I would jump in so that I could show him as we went along. I told him the directions again and that I was too busy with my friends to take him up on that offer. He drove off and took a right at the stop sign, I remember thinking "he didn't listen to me".
It wasn't until I was a teenager that it dawned on me what that situation really was (or at least what I think it was). For a smart guy, it sometimes takes me years to figure things out. When it dawned on me, I was scared to death. There was no sense of danger to me, even though my parents had always warned me not to talk to strangers. But, I was always the helpful sort and didn't think about it.
I thought to myself, what if this guy had asked me while I was walking home? My friends and I didn't think to tell anyone about this. We just went back to playing not giving it a thought. Maybe because back in the 1970's we didn't think about child abduction like that. I was a smart kid, but I also liked to be helpful. So, if an adult needed my help - what an ego boost. The brain takes a hike and your ego makes poor decisions. Seriously, I might have entered that car if the other elements had not aligned that day.
Off and on, that memory comes back to me. I begin to wonder. What ended up with that guy? Did he move on and grab the next kid he saw? Did he get caught? Is he still out there? I could easily spiral into guilt. Why didn't I tell the police or my parents? Did my inaction possibly lead to some other poor child's fate? As I said, you can spiral and I did while in college.
But, I have prayed and gotten healing over the years for that by God. I thank God immensely to have avoided that situation. I can't beat myself up for it. I can only know that God has taken care of it. Thirty-five years, I wouldn't be able to describe him. He probably looks much different. I never saw that guy or that car in my neighborhood again. But, I wasn't really looking for it since I never sensed danger.
Who knows? Maybe I avoided danger - maybe it was a purely innocent act. In my heart, I sincerely doubt it. I just know that it almost happened to me.
OK, It's funny how our memories can work. Something we completely forgot about, comes to mind with a trigger. Or, even an incident occurred you forgot about it until many years later. That's how it is with a few of my memories. I can distinctly remember a lot of it as if it happened yesterday, rather than many years ago. That's how it is with the following story I will tell.
Let me preface this with the fact that only my wife knows any of this story. The funny thing is that when it occurred, I didn't think anything of the situation nor the potential danger I was in. Years later, I would understand what happened and thank God there were elements in place which kept me from making what I think would have been a fatal mistake. This isn't meant to be a cute, brave little story - in fact I consider myself very lucky.
This event happened back when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was down the street from my house hanging out with my friends, the Donovans, in their front yard.
A car pulled up to the curb. It was a small red convertible driven by a man wearing sunglasses and had a brown mustache. He was also wearing one of those checkered driving hats (It's amazing I can remember that much detail years later). He asked me how to get to a particular street in the neighborhood. I told him to drive past the stop sign and it was the first street on the left past that. He didn't seem to comprehend my directions and kept asking. Finally, he asked if I would jump in so that I could show him as we went along. I told him the directions again and that I was too busy with my friends to take him up on that offer. He drove off and took a right at the stop sign, I remember thinking "he didn't listen to me".
It wasn't until I was a teenager that it dawned on me what that situation really was (or at least what I think it was). For a smart guy, it sometimes takes me years to figure things out. When it dawned on me, I was scared to death. There was no sense of danger to me, even though my parents had always warned me not to talk to strangers. But, I was always the helpful sort and didn't think about it.
I thought to myself, what if this guy had asked me while I was walking home? My friends and I didn't think to tell anyone about this. We just went back to playing not giving it a thought. Maybe because back in the 1970's we didn't think about child abduction like that. I was a smart kid, but I also liked to be helpful. So, if an adult needed my help - what an ego boost. The brain takes a hike and your ego makes poor decisions. Seriously, I might have entered that car if the other elements had not aligned that day.
Off and on, that memory comes back to me. I begin to wonder. What ended up with that guy? Did he move on and grab the next kid he saw? Did he get caught? Is he still out there? I could easily spiral into guilt. Why didn't I tell the police or my parents? Did my inaction possibly lead to some other poor child's fate? As I said, you can spiral and I did while in college.
But, I have prayed and gotten healing over the years for that by God. I thank God immensely to have avoided that situation. I can't beat myself up for it. I can only know that God has taken care of it. Thirty-five years, I wouldn't be able to describe him. He probably looks much different. I never saw that guy or that car in my neighborhood again. But, I wasn't really looking for it since I never sensed danger.
Who knows? Maybe I avoided danger - maybe it was a purely innocent act. In my heart, I sincerely doubt it. I just know that it almost happened to me.
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