Megan Stranded

My nerves tingle and my heart beats a little faster at the thought of Megan being stranded and scared. We got a call at 5:00 today. Megan was calling from the church where they usually have their Brownie meeting and was asking to be picked up. The meeting today was not at the church but at a nursing home. Megan always gets a ride right from school at 4:00 to Brownies from Savanah's mom, Shari. Shari forgot about the nursing home and even though she usually walks them in today she just dropped them off.

The stairwell where they waited

Megan and Savanah found the door locked and looked around for a way in. Savanah had left her coat in the car since it is unseasonably warm 50's, but the breeze was chilly outside. They couldn't find a way in so they spent the next hour huddled together in a stairwell that leads to the basement entrance to the social hall. They peeked into the parking lot when they heard people's voices in the hopes of seeing someone they knew.

After an hour they saw a woman they recognized as a classmate's grandmother. The grandmother offered them a ride but neither felt comfortable with that, so the grandmother tracked down someone with a cellphone. That's when we got the call.

Jim went to get them and a few minutes later a substitute teacher from their school saw them and let them into the glass entrance. I meanwhile got in touch with Shari, who was beside herself, and got to our house a few minutes after Jim and the girls.

It wasn't productive to be mad, I just felt so glad they were now safe. I'm proud of Megan for having our phone number committed to memory and so glad they handled themselves so well. I am so glad they were together. Megan opened her coat and they both wore it on their shoulders. Savanah shared her 2 pretzels and the two encouraged each other. Megan suggested they say their favorite prayers. They did well. But I also feel sick at the thought of them being so vulnerable, cold, and scared. I had trusted that Megan was somewhere safe and I was wrong.