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firstwife

(115 posts)

43. I was left "home alone"

Thu Jun 21, 2018, 01:17 AM

Jun 2018

at the age of 4 1/2, my parents took my 4 siblings and I to a family friends’ home in Chesterton, IN, to pick up them and their 2 kids to go to the Michigan City Zoo. They all piled into the cars and left, not realizing I was still in the house. I came outside and they were gone baby gone. To this day, I have extremely vivid memories of the ordeal. Like it happened last week. When they got to the zoo and realized I was not with them, they freaked. This was in 1960, so no cell phones. The neighbors found me crying in the front yard and took me into their home. My parents had called the IN State Patrol who sent a trooper to the house. The terror I felt at being separated haunted me for years and definitely altered my sense of security, as I was also a tiny child and very shy. So my heart aches for each one of those babies, because they are all someone’s babies. They will never forget this trauma. God damn Trump’s soul to hell, and all the souls who aided and abetted him.

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When I was 3, I mistakenly took a strange woman's hand [View all] catbyte Jun 2018 OP

Same EXACT thing happened to me in the grocery store. Cracklin Charlie Jun 2018 #1

Same EXACT thing happened to me - leaving church after Mass on Sunday. calimary Jun 2018 #30

Exactly. I vividly remember an incident that lasted a moment after 60 years. I can't catbyte Jun 2018 #42

It's state-sponsored child abuse. calimary Jun 2018 #46

Me, too. nt lillypaddle Jun 2018 #40

They don't care! They view those kids as less than themselves. Perhaps 3/5 of a human! Floyd R. Turbo Jun 2018 #2

Unfortunately, you are correct, Floyd Ohiogal Jun 2018 #8

But it's all to protect... Uh... What are we protecting again? Beartracks Jun 2018 #44

I was around the same age when my mom was in a very bad wreck. Solly Mack Jun 2018 #3

I'm so sorry, Solly Mack Ohiogal Jun 2018 #6

Thank you, Ohiogal Solly Mack Jun 2018 #14

Poetic justice, Scarsdale Jun 2018 #53

Too sad malaise Jun 2018 #10

Thank you, malaise. Solly Mack Jun 2018 #15

omg. that is horrible Demovictory9 Jun 2018 #33

She was a horrible woman. Solly Mack Jun 2018 #34

Oh, Solly. suffragette Jun 2018 #51

Thanks, suffragette Solly Mack Jun 2018 #52

When I was nine my mother went to hospital for a year. nolabear Jun 2018 #4

Me too. My dad was standing with a group of men. Back then Luz Jun 2018 #5

When we were in a hotel lobby in downtown Cleveland Ohiogal Jun 2018 #7

That happened to me also as a kid kimbutgar Jun 2018 #9

They will be dysfunctional adults. lpbk2713 Jun 2018 #11

This. Republican policies are geared to proving governmental incompetence. BBG Jun 2018 #29

Like jocks who think math is dumb, Republicans hate govt cuz they suck at it. Beartracks Jun 2018 #45

Great story. nt Honeycombe8 Jun 2018 #12

when my daughter was two, she walked on the other side of a display in a store yurbud Jun 2018 #13

Happened to me, but I was 5...so it wasn't very traumatic LeftInTX Jun 2018 #16

When you discover your mom is nowhere to be seen, it's terrifying. The Velveteen Ocelot Jun 2018 #17

I remember that feeling too. smirkymonkey Jun 2018 #21

There is just such a disgust factor with Trump's policy here and bucolic_frolic Jun 2018 #18

When I Was in My Twenties Leith Jun 2018 #19

And I remember a different scene -- RandomAccess Jun 2018 #20

The event in this video plays like a movie... from distraught mom, crowd helping, distraught child, Demovictory9 Jun 2018 #36

Only a person with empathy like yourself will recall your own fear MaryMagdaline Jun 2018 #22

i FEEL the same way you do...but I'll get kicked off if I say a bad word... onecent Jun 2018 #23

I never had kids MurrayDelph Jun 2018 #24

Of course they won't! Good memory Cha Jun 2018 #25

My parents when really angry MuseRider Jun 2018 #26

ack!! Demovictory9 Jun 2018 #37

Exactly. MuseRider Jun 2018 #38

That is awful. True Blue American Jun 2018 #50

Yes--It IS Traumatic and I remember Like Yesterday! DoctorJoJo Jun 2018 #27

I got separated from my family at age 7 at the New York Worlds Fair (1965) at closing time. no_hypocrisy Jun 2018 #28

Happy birthday cat Tye and thank you for posting Dream Girl Jun 2018 #31

I never lost track of a parent but I "misplaced" my eldest nephew at the zoo when he was about 3 dflprincess Jun 2018 #32

Funny!:) True Blue American Jun 2018 #49

I don't want to diminish your trauma but cooldude Jun 2018 #35

Not all Romanians are Gypsies True Blue American Jun 2018 #48

This all is starting to bring up some bad memories that I thought trickyguy Jun 2018 #39

I want to thank everyone for their stories. PoindexterOglethorpe Jun 2018 #41

I was left "home alone" firstwife Jun 2018 #43

When I was about that age, maybe a couple of years older, True Blue American Jun 2018 #47

I think many of us have a story of looking away for a second or two tulipsandroses Jun 2018 #54

This is the GOP's idea of family values RainCaster Jun 2018 #55